Hunter and Scholar
by Burning Phoenix X-7
Summary: Merely crossing paths was just the beginning of a journey beyond anything they would have expected.
1. Chapter 1: The Mission

**Chapter 1: The Mission**

Samus Aran leaned back against the pilot seat of her ship with a quiet, tired sigh. Having just returned from a recent bounty, she was looking to see what she would have to hunt down next. There was no shortage of jobs for her to take on, especially with Space Pirates running amok often.

She may need to also take the time to recover a bit; it would do her no good to for another mission right away, with how much the last one took out of her. She was no stranger to exerting herself beyond her limits, but she would be of no help to herself if she were exhausted and dead.

As the bounty hunter was considering her next move, the sound of an incoming message caught her attention. She straightened and accepted the message. Her holoscreen popped up and a familiar face greeted her.

"Hey Princess!" Anthony Higgs said with a grin on his face.

Samus stared at him through her visor. She visibly sighed in response and tilted her head slightly at him in question.

"What? No 'hello' for an old buddy?" He joked, "Alright, I'll get to the point. The Commander wants to see you. He says to come over to Daiban right away and meet him."

Samus stared at the holoscreen for a moment, thinking it over, before she eventually gave a nod to let him know that she would accept this call. She was looking for another job to do anyway, and if Adam Malkovich had something to offer, why not. Especially if it were urgent. She could give him her price once she got there.

"Great. Be seein' ya, Princess." Anthony said, still smiling as he hung up the call.

" _What now, Adam?"_ Samus mentally sighed before punching in the coordinates to Daiban and letting her ship head off for the planet. She had an hour or so until she arrived at Daiban, since she was likely to visit at some point anyway in order to find another bounty to hunt.

Another message came in and she shook her head, knowing what it was supposed to be, and indeed, her guess had been right.

Her client called to let her know that thanks to her efforts, the galaxy was saved again and that the Federation owed her a lot yet again. The bounty hunter only rolled her eyes and turned off the message before disposing of it from her computer's memory.

She cared little for the flattering that her big-shot clients would sometimes shower her with. They only needed her to get some work done without getting their hands dirty, and perhaps stroking their asset's egos may ensure their loyalty.

But not for Samus; she took the job if it paid well for her, but she would not hesitate to turn on her client should she learn of any dubious deeds and dealings they were involved in. She may be a bounty hunter, but she would be damned if she allowed scum to roam the universe freely; Federation member, high-respected politician or highly-respected businessman or not.

Deciding to calm her mind for a bit, Samus got up and left the cockpit and headed to her cabin. She usually did not sleep, and she doubted she would able to do so now. However, getting the chance to at least lay down without worrying that something would be looming over her was something she made sure she would take advantage of before she would head off for another bounty.

The armored warrior sat on her bed and stared at her pillow, contemplating actually lying down or just simply sitting there. Her mind felt blank, except for the mental reminder that she would be visiting Adam and perhaps even bumping into Anthony back at Daiban.

It was a planet she was familiar with when she had been a teenager; for a couple of years she had been a part of the Galactic Federation Police until she turned sixteen—and close to turning seventeen—and she left. She could no longer stand the restrictions and orders they spat out, even at the risk of allowing people to lose their lives.

But despite the friction between her and authority figures, Samus admitted she did have good allies she could turn to at times, aside from Anthony and even Adam. Though she had not been in contact with them for years. She was a bounty hunter after all, and she worked more effectively alone; nobody would get her that way, and nobody would get in her way.

Deciding to just remain in her cabin until she arrived at her destination, Samus tried to keep her mind busy. If she allowed her thoughts to wander she would surely regret it; she had a lot of memories, but not many of them were what she could consider 'happy'. If she allowed herself to get lost in thought, then her mind would surely wander to a very dark and scary place.

She refused to fall to weakness, and she refused to allow herself to be open to any sort of attacks, even from her own mind.

* * *

Upon arriving and docking at Daiban, Samus stepped off her ship and headed straight for the Federation's headquarters. She steeled herself as she entered; immediately there were eyes on her as she walked in and passed everyone.

She headed straight for Adam's office, where she knew he would be waiting. Whatever it was he was going to tell her, it better be important. As much as she respected the man, she would not appreciated if he told her she had been invited to some sort of gala. Samus stopped in front of the door to Adam's office and clenched her left hand into a fist before knocking on the door.

"Enter."

At the reply, the bounty hunter stepped in and looked over at her former CO who was seated at his desk. He seemed to have been deep in thought until she stepped in as he looked up and focused on his guest.

"Samus. Thank you for stopping by," Adam said. He sounded rather tired, but the hunter could not blame him. She knew he had a lot on his plate at times.

Samus nodded in greeting and stared at him through her visor. She tilted her head questioningly and Adam massaged his temples. He stood up from his desk and stepped around it to lean against its front. The hunter crossed her arms, waiting for him to say something.

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here…" He said and received a nod in response. "We have been requested to have someone along for a…field study. We have some scientists-in-the-making looking to visit some planets that may seem familiar to you."

Samus gave him a look from behind her visor but Adam seemed to sense it. He returned the look with a tired expression of his own, but his sternness still shone through.

"I know you dislike the idea of babysitting, Samus. Believe me, I would send one of the troops over but I can't spare anyone at the moment, and nobody else knows the ins and outs of these planets like you do; I wouldn't just call you over for something if it were trivial. As such, you are assigned to escort a student who they say have much potential."

Just one. At least she did not have to babysit a whole reckless crowd of scientist-wannabes. While she knew, and met, some brilliant minds before, they were few and far between. Most of the time, scientists tend to prod and go in too deep. Some even pestered her in what they thought was being discreet. She knew they wondered about her armor and connection with the Chozo but she had no answers to offer them.

"The job is simple, Samus; just keep an eye on this student until they've completed the field study that is required of them." Adam explained.

Samus crossed her arms and shook her head, unable to believe she would have to do something like this again. This wasn't the first time she had been hired as an escort, but during those times they were at least trained soldiers. But now she would have to babysit some kid who would be vulnerable should any hostile life form decided to show itself. Samus could easily take care of the problem, but she would only have to hope that her charge would behave themselves while she did her job.

A knock on the door caught their attention and they both looked over to see Anthony peek in.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" He asked, then looked between Samus and Adam. "The student is here, should we wait though?"

"No need, Higgs. Let her in." Adam said.

With a nod, Anthony opened the door wider and stepped in before gesturing to someone out in the hall. "Come on in, Miss."

Samus watched as a girl walked in. She had long blonde hair that flowed down her back, the length similar to Samus' own hair when it was pulled out of its ponytail. Part of the girl's hair was tied into a braid around the top of her head and on the sides of her hair were two blue triangular hair clips. She had bright green eyes, and she was dressed in a light blue T-shirt, dark jeans, and boots. Her hands were covered in black fingerless gloves. Another interesting feature the bounty hunter noticed was the girl's ears; they were pointed.

" _An Elfin?"_ Samus stared at her would-be charge through the visor. She recalled having an Elfin on her team once, when she had been a part of the Federation Police.

Adam approached the girl and shook her hand before turning to the bounty hunter. "Samus, this is Miss Zelda. She is the one you will be escorting on her field studies."

"With all due respect, Commander Malkovich, I appreciate the decision but I am not in need of an escort. I merely need to study some specimens I collect on the assigned planets." Zelda said politely, though it was clear she was not very comfortable with the thought of being watched over.

"And we do respect that, Miss Zelda. But Samus has been to these planets before. It might help to have someone who is very familiar with the terrain." Adam reasoned.

Zelda looked over at the armored bounty hunter. Almost immediately she felt quite intimidated but at the same time, she was quite curious. She had seen soldiers of the Federation before, but never one like Samus. Either way, it seemed she would not be able to go on her field study without a bodyguard.

"… Very well. I suppose that might be helpful…" She sounded reluctant, but as long as she got her studies done, it should not matter.

Anthony smiled and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You can trust Aran with the job, Miss. You won't even notice anyone's there."

"Higgs, escort Miss Zelda to the docking stations. I just need a moment." Adam said, turning to the silent hunter. Anthony nodded and he and Zelda stepped out of the office.

Samus looked to her former CO and he eyed her wearily. "There are just a few things I want to be clear with. Miss Zelda is the only one doing her field study at the moment; apparently she's the brightest mind that the academy has taught in their science department. So she was allowed to advance ahead of the others. They see a lot of potential to her and they stressed to me that it was important to keep her in one piece."

The bounty hunter nodded in understanding. A prized student that she would have to look after. She had been hired for much worse, so it would be of no bother.

"Fine. If there is no other questions, you're free to go." Adam said before returning to his desk while Samus turned to leave and return to her ship.

* * *

"Hey there, Princess! The Commander give you a tough time?" Anthony asked with a chuckle as the bounty hunter approached. Zelda was keeping a respectable distance, but she was inspecting the hunter's gunship with great curiosity.

Samus looked over to where the blonde girl was still inspecting the gunship. It was as if she was mentally mapping everything out without any unnecessary poking and prodding. At least Samus did not have to worry about her touching things in her ship that she shouldn't.

"Not sure if this little hearsay is true or not, but I heard she arrived on her own, without anyone accompanying her; no parent or guardian, or even a friend. That's nuts! Don't know why no one bothered asking her about but I guess we all have our reasons." Anthony said, then noticed the hunter staring at him from behind her visor. He could guess what her expression was like underneath that helmet of hers. "Hard to believe, eh? I've only known her for a couple of hours, and she doesn't really act like it, but you can tell she's still young."

Samus exhaled slowly; as long as she behaved, then they should have no problem.

"Well, best of luck. Maybe the next time you drop in, we can have a drink, yeah?" Anthony playfully punched the bounty hunter on the arm and Samus nodded to him in agreement and watched as he headed off.

Zelda had been waiting patiently until the two were finished talking and Samus finally approached the ship. Her visor stared down at the teenager for a moment before the hunter gestured to her ship. The entrance was up top. The girl seemed to get the idea and looked around for a way to climb up on her own, much to Samus' amusement. She allowed her to find a way on her own for a bit.

Zelda circled the gunship, searching for any sort of footing she could use in order to get to the top of the ship. She glanced at her armored escort before she placed a boot on the side of the ship carefully, hoping her current company would not take offense to someone pressing their footwear against their shiny vessel.

Samus watched as Zelda tried to step up and climb onto the ship, only to slip back and stumble. The girl caught herself before she could fall onto her backside. It was probably rude but she could not help but watch to see if this top student could find a solution.

With a huff, Zelda stared at the gunship's angles. Still, she was not going to allow herself to waste time. She had much of her research to get done! She tried again, and this time she managed to get up a little higher, only to slip and fall back.

Before she could hit the hard steel floor, she felt herself land against something else. It was hard and cold like the floor, but she was not flat on her back and staring up at the ceiling of the docking bay. Instead, she found herself looking up at an opaque visor staring back down at her, the arms of the bounty hunter around her to prevent her from falling back. Zelda blushed in embarrassment and averted her gaze with a frown.

Samus shook her head and lifted the teen into her arms, making the girl gasp in surprise as the bounty hunter suddenly leapt into the air with ease and landed on top of her ship. She then placed the teenager back down onto her own feet.

Zelda cleared her throat and straightened before turning to look up at the immensely tall warrior. "… Thank you."

Samus shook her head and pointed to where they would need to stand in order to ender the ship. Her charge just nodded and followed behind. The two stepped onto the platform and it lowered them down into the ship. Once inside the vessel, Samus stepped off first and gestured to her charge and pointed towards where her room was. Zelda looked over at the bounty hunter, then towards the hatch.

"I take it that is your quarters?" The young scholar asked.

Samus nodded then pointed to where the cockpit was before she headed off there on her own. Zelda watched as her escort left her there. She was not sure what she had been expecting when the academy said she could take her advanced lessons and field research, but only if she had an escort assigned to her.

She had bitten her tongue, reigning in her protests. She disliked the idea, but she did not want to ruin her own chances of moving forward in her studies. So she would tolerate having a guide with her. As long as they were not overbearing. So far, this armored warrior was silent and just seemed content with getting the job done. That was good, at least.

With a sigh, she stepped towards the hatch and it hissed open, revealing a rather modest living area with another hatch in on the other side of the room.

Zelda took a deep breath and stepped in. This was someone else's living quarters and she was just walking in. It made her feel slightly anxious, even if it was this person's job to look after her while she did her own work.

The hatch to the bedroom opened and she was greeted with a simple room. There was a desk, a bed… It was just as modest as the living area, and just as tidy. Zelda slowly moved in and looked at the desk. Perhaps this was where she could get some of her studies done.

Meanwhile Samus started the vessel up. She would need to ask her little guest for the coordinates of the planets she was to visit. The gunship rose up until it was off the planet entirely.

Before Samus could get up, she heard the hatch of the cockpit open. She looked back to see Zelda step in, in her hand was some sort of tablet with an eye design on it. The center of the eye had a blue glow. She approached the bounty hunter.

"I'm sorry, I realize I didn't tell you which planets I would need to visit." She said and handed Samus the tablet.

Behind her visor, Samus raised an eyebrow and looked down at the screen. As she stared at the coordinates, she tensed. She recognized some of them; they were planets she had been to before. She looked at Zelda.

"… These were assigned to me. I did not choose these myself, if that is what you were wondering." Zelda explained, feeling as if she was being stared at intently from behind that visor.

Samus inwardly groaned. What was the academy, and the Federation for that matter, thinking? Sending a student to study life-forms on planets that had less-than-ideal history, and creatures that were quite hostile.

"By your posture and body language, I'm going to assume you know where these coordinates lead…?" Zelda questioned.

Samus nodded and stiffly gave Zelda back her tablet. It was a strange and unique in design, but now was not the time to be thinking about electronic devices. She punched in the first coordinate and put the ship into autopilot. The vessel then moved towards its intended destination.

Zelda stared at the back of the pilot chair. "Listen, I understand this is likely not a job you are fond of. I will be the first to admit, I would rather attempt this on my own. But if I may, tell me about these planets. You're acting as if… As if something might attack us."

While she was quite sure the teen was not trying to be rude or had ill-intentions, Samus just shook her head in response. She was not sure if it was a good idea to just tell her, but then again it might be for the best that this young scholar was prepared for the worst.

The bounty hunter began tapping away at the holo-keys, bringing up some of the data she had long since collected during her last visit to the assigned planets. Once they were up on the holoscreen, she turned to her charge and pointed.

Zelda stepped forward and stared. "Tallon IV… I have heard the planet is still recovering after an incident. I may not know much about what happened on there, but the entire Federation seemed to be kicking up more than just a fuss. That's an understatement, of course."

Samus had to chuckle at that. As someone who had been part of, and was now still often hired by, the Galactic Federation, she knew very well how the politicians acted and reacted in times of darkness and dire situations. Panic and tensions tend to rise, and at times, it would be only a matter of time until Samus would be called to clean up whatever mess was left behind, or even the issue itself.

"Don't worry, though. I have no intention of harming a planet on the verge of recovering. I merely need to take small samples to study. Perhaps I might even be able to find a way to help in the healing of Tallon IV, especially if the life-forms that live there are to prosper again." Zelda said as she read through the data of the planet.

Samus stared off into the distance while Zelda studied the information the hunter had gathered about Tallon IV. She was used to hearing people trying to play god with their newfound inventions and research. She still hoped young blonde would keep her humility at the very least, even after becoming a full-fledged researcher.

"I know this is merely an escort job for you, but… I truly appreciate you letting me know ahead of time what I may be dealing with," Zelda said sincerely.

In response, Samus shook her head and lifted a hand in modesty. She was merely do what she was hired to do at the time. It was a job, after all. Still, nobody has ever thanked her like this; with sincerity.

So far, this escort job was going well.

After a couple of hours, they eventually landed on Tallon IV and Zelda rode the platform to the top of the ship. Now they had to get down; obviously it would be easy for Samus. But Zelda had no means of easy means of jumping off.

Again, the bounty hunter watched as Zelda weighed her options and possibilities of getting off the vessel, the opposite of what she had attempted to do back at the docking bay in Daiban.

Zelda looked around before sighing in defeat and deciding to just simply slide down the side of the gunship. She braced herself and slowly sat her backside down, trying to ignore the gaze she felt behind her head. She knew Samus was watching and she was not going to let that unnerve her. She just needed to get down.

Finally Zelda sat down and scooted forward a bit until she finally slid downwards. She yelped and gasped as she reached the end. She stretched her legs out and hopped off quickly to avoid landing onto the ground and tumbling. Once her boots touched the ground she stumbled forwards a bit and landed on her side.

Samus chuckled and jumped off her ship before offering her armored hand to the young scholar. Zelda's face was bright red as she accepted the help. The bounty hunter lifted her up easily, and placing her back on her feet.

The young blonde dusted herself off before inspecting her tablet that she had kept at her side, looking relieved when it was clear the device did not sustain any damage.

"Well…I suppose I should get started." She looked around the area carefully. It was clear the planet was indeed still recovering from the last incident concerning the Phazon, but it was at least making progress.

Samus made no comment and her charge did not mind in the least. In fact, the solitary hunter wondered just how and why Zelda seemed to tolerate her silence. As far as Samus was concerned, she never felt the need to verbally communicate unless it was all too urgent or she needed to talk about her pay. But for the most part, people never hear her speak and some assume she just _could not_ speak at all.

It was likely Zelda assumed the same thing; that Samus had no ability to talk. Being a researcher, it was possibly a heaven-sent that nobody would talk and disturb her. At least, that was what the hunter assumed.

As the pair wandered the area, they caught sight of the Federation base. Zelda shook her head and continued onward. She had no intention of doing her studies there. She needed to find and pick up proper specimens herself and study them without Federation soldiers hovering over her, especially since she already had someone doing that already.

Zelda lifted her tablet device and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Hm… I might need a more complete map, but hopefully this would suffice."

Samus glanced over to the screen of the device to see the young scholar observing a map of Tallon IV. It did not seem to be as detailed as the one Samus had in her databank, but it at least had a good amount of locations on the planet. No doubt spots she would need to visit for her project.

The hunter leaned in a bit and pointed a finger at one spot on the map. Zelda glanced at her, then at the spot she pointed at.

"Are we near that area?" She asked.

Samus nodded and pointed in the direction. Zelda strapped her device to her side then looked to the bounty hunter. Samus then took the lead and went on ahead. She glanced over at her charge to make sure she was following. Zelda quickened her pace to walk beside her and the hunter nodded in approval.

Right away, Zelda's mind began working. She observed her surroundings, taking in the condition of the planet and its rate of recovery. She could be sure that she would have a lot to work on soon.

* * *

Upon arriving to the designated area, Zelda looked rather dismayed as she began her work. "It is said this planet was a biological paradise, but after the incident… Well, I do not have details of what happened here, only hearsay and reports. But I can see the damage it has caused."

Samus crossed her arms as she stood at a distance to keep watch. Zelda knew the armored hunter would not respond verbally but she did not seem bothered by it or find Samus rude. And to the hunter, it was slightly entertaining to see the young woman mumbling and muttering to herself as she worked.

"I do hope we can get this all done and avoid any heavy precipitation. It wouldn't do us any good if we got soaked to the bone…" Zelda said as she picked a small plant sample to take back with her for more study.

Samus looked upwards at the sky; the planet was known for its constant rain but at the moment it was only a mere drizzle they were dealing with. But one could never know. Nature was unpredictable. She looked back at her charge who was now holding up her tablet device up, and pointing it at her surroundings.

Feeling the intense stare at the back of her head, Zelda glanced over at the bounty hunter. "I'm snapping some images for future references. Besides, it would be a shame not to appreciate the beauty of a planet that has been through a lot but is making it through."

Feeling quite curious herself, Samus approached her and took a peek over the young woman's shoulder to see her taking pictures with the tablet device. Perhaps a hobby she enjoyed while out on the field?

Suddenly, Zelda lifted her head and whirled around, almost startling the bounty hunter. Samus stared at her oddly through the visor, wondering what had gotten into her. However, before she could question her, she noticed the younger blonde's pointed ear twitch slightly. It was almost unnoticeable.

"Something's coming this way…" Zelda said, turning cautious.

Samus followed her gaze and took a stance in front of her young charge, lifting up her arm cannon in case of an attack. Soon, the sounds that Zelda heard became audible to the hunter. It sounded like footsteps, as well as the sound of rustling.

In the distance, a couple of shapes closed in on the pair. As the got closer, Samus relaxed and lowered her arm cannon. A familiar call reached her ears and she smiled behind the visor a bird creature rushed towards her, with a monkey-like creature seated on its back, holding onto its neck to keep itself from falling off.

The dachora stopped right in front of Samus and squawked in greeting while the etecoon on its back let out a happy cry, signaling to other etecoons hidden in the trees nearby. Another dachora appeared as well, approaching the bounty hunter.

Soon, Samus found herself being in the center of attention of these creatures she had encountered and saved more than once. It was nice to see that they were now doing well on Tallon IV. Behind her, Zelda watched with awe and fascination. Her posture relaxed and she slowly approached the scene.

A young etecoon then noticed the new face standing behind Samus and slowly approached her. Zelda smiled kindly and got down on her knees to seem less intimidating to the creature. The bounty hunter turned to see the young etecoon climb onto the young woman's shoulder, causing Zelda to giggle as the creature began to curiously touch Zelda's ear and hair.

"These are etecoons and dachoras, aren't they?" Zelda chuckled as her ear was tickled. "I've heard and read about these creatures, but I've never seen any of them up close like this!"

Samus watched as the animals turned their attention to the newcomer, inspecting, nudging and sniffing at her. Surprisingly, Zelda was rather calm despite being crowded by eager animals and she was handling their curiosity well.

One of the dachora nudged at her carefully with its beak and Zelda carefully and slowly placed a hand on top of the bird's head. "Nice to meet you as well. I didn't think I'd see these species on Tallon IV."

The bounty hunter crossed her arms and shook her head. The young scholar looked up at her, wondering what her silent escort was trying to say.

"They…aren't from here…?" She guessed. Samus nodded in confirmation. "That explains it then. I wonder how they even managed to migrate to this planet. Not only that, the dachora and etecoons seem to be working together. Such display of intelligence makes it a possibility that they can understand more than we think they do."

As if agreeing with her train of thought, the dachora squawked and nuzzled Zelda's chest while the young etecoon poked the tip of Zelda's ear.

"Seeing as they are very friendly and familiar with you, is it safe to assume you were probably responsible for bringing them here, or at least had a hand in making sure this bunch was kept from harm?" The young scholar asked as one of the etecoons leapt up to ride on the bounty hunter's rounded armored shoulder.

Again, Samus nodded and though it was not much of an answer, her charge accepted it and kept entertaining the animals.

While Samus watched the scene, she could not help but feel like this young scholar had great potential in her. The lone bounty hunter had encountered many different people throughout her lifetime, but Zelda seemed to be one of those unique souls who seem to only come about rarely. While she clearly had the makings of any scientist, she also seemed to hold true respect and appreciation of her surroundings, even towards something she is studying.

Once again, Samus Aran found herself inwardly hoping that this young student would keep her humility and appreciation for her surroundings.

* * *

"Incredible! To think that there are such life-forms that we never knew could ever exist, and yet here is a sample of the perfect specimen!" Zelda exclaimed excitedly as she examined the bioluminescent plant under a makeshift microscope that consisted of her tablet being set upright horizontally with the eye at the back scanning the specimen, showing off the tiny bits unseen to the naked eye on its screen. She could not seem to stop smiling as she studied the new discovery.

Samus Aran leaned back against the wall in the far corner of the room as she watched the young scholar work.

It was now hours later since they returned to the ship; when the rains began to grow heavy, both Samus and Zelda had to bid farewell to the etecoons and dachoras before hurrying back to the hunter's gunship. While Samus did not mind the rain, especially with her armor on, Zelda had no such protection and it would do no good if her charge got weak and sickly from being out in the rain on just her first planet.

She still wondered what Adam had been thinking, volunteering her for a job such as this. He had told her she simply needed to escort the young woman to certain assigned planets in order for her to continue her studies. Adam had said it was because Samus knew plenty of planets like the back of her hand. Someone with her expertise would be ideal for a scholar like Miss Zelda.

It was still strange, and though Samus had never spoken to Zelda out loud yet, the younger blonde made no comment on it. Thankfully, she also seemed to understand whenever Samus was trying to warn her of something or say something without speaking a word. Zelda was just as curious and fascinated with the world like any other aspiring scientist, but unlike most scientists that Samus had encountered, she never went in too deep if she sensed something was wrong, and she was at least cautious enough to look to the bounty hunter to make sure if it was anything they should keep away from. And she was genuinely curious, always wanting to learn and understand things around her.

True, there were also others who did not greedily toil too deep into something they could not possibly comprehend, and Samus was acquainted with a decent amount of well-intentioned scientists, but for the most part, the bounty hunter had seen the folly of many who used their impressive minds for their own ends, even weaponizing something they should not be interfering with.

Luckily, she managed to behave while under Samus' watch. That was not to say that she did not have her moments of running off if she felt like things were getting overbearing or if something has caught her attention. She was young after all.

Samus continued to watch Zelda as she took down notes while continuing to study the glowing planet. She had a determined yet excited look on her face whenever she made any sort of progress, and her bright green eyes would sparkle like the stars in the sky.

It had been a temptation for Samus to finally speak out loud and question her as to why she was all the way out on a planet like Daiban.

The hunter was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a yawn emerge from her charge. It seems that Zelda was growing tired from the day's excitement, but showed no intention of stopping for a break with how focused she was at the moment.

Samus pushed away from the wall and left the cabin to spend time in the cockpit. While the job was not exciting, it was at least simple and her charge was not causing any complications. It gave Samus some time to breathe from her last mission, even if it was hard for her to relax.

The bounty hunter sat herself in the pilot seat and leaned back, staring out at the view of Tallon's IV's scenery through the windshield of her ship. Even now, she could still recall what the planet had gone through, and what she had to deal with during her time visiting it.

Every day was a fight for survival to her, and she was used to having to face battles wherever she went. But she also appreciated the times when she was allowed a bit of peace. This escort job seemed to be a mix of both.

All she had to do was look after this one student of the academy, but some of the planets she had been assigned to were ones that held certain memories for Samus. Tallon IV was just the start.

The hunter found herself just sitting there for a good while, and thankfully her mind did not attack her, until she felt that she may need to check on her charge again. Zelda has been studying for a good while and she had not stepped out of the cabin.

Samus got up and returned to the bedroom, only to find Zelda asleep at the desk in the room, her work surrounding her. Her head was resting on her arms and the odd tablet still stood there while her papers laying on the table while her collected specimens remained safely tucked away on the side.

Samus shook her head as she approached. It seemed the excitement of learning had gotten to her, but at least she would be up and ready for the next planet. She looked over to her bed, then back at the young scholar. With a shrug, the space warrior grabbed the blanket off of her bed and placed it around Zelda's shoulders while the young woman slept.

She looked to be at peace, and that was a good sign. Someone young like her should be able to sleep without a worry. But remembering what Adam had said; that the girl had advanced far into her studies ahead of her classmates, Samus wondered if Zelda knew how to act or enjoy life like any normal teenager.

Then again, she did go to Daiban on her own—according to what Anthony heard in passing—but was that even true, or a bunch of students gossiping about another student who was advancing farther than them?

Samus shook her head. It was not her place to think or assume such things, especially when they had nothing to do with her mission. However, it was rather curious that a kid like Zelda would even travel to another planet on her own. That is, if those rumors were true.

Whatever the case, Samus was certain that the young scholar would be safe under her watch.

* * *

"I'm just about done with what I need to do here. However, there was something I was curious about. If I may ask." Zelda said as she and Samus made another trek through the wilderness of Tallon IV.

Samus stopped and looked down at her questioningly. Zelda had been quiet for the most part since she woke up. The young scholar had been immediately ready to get more work done once she had gotten sleep out of her system.

"I had picked up something on the map. It appears to be some form of structure or ruins…" She pointed at the screen of her tablet.

Samus glanced at the screen and immediately recognized what she was referring to. The hunter just nodded and made no comment on it. She merely shrugged but showed no indication that she was denying she knew about it either.

"This…has nothing to do with my studies but…I was wondering if perhaps I could see these ruins myself…?" Zelda asked. "If it happens to be a restricted area, then I can understand that as well."

Of course Samus knew she was referring to the Chozo Ruins, the same place where she had encountered and defeated Flaahgra, cleansing the water of Phazon in the process. The area should be secure and safe now that there was no threat there. Samus considered it for a moment; Zelda was obviously asking to visit the area out of mere curiosity rather than the need to complete research.

With a sigh, the bounty hunter placed an armored hand on her charge's shoulder. Zelda looked up at her and Samus pointed at the screen of the young scholar's device.

"… You will escort me there? You're sure?" Zelda raised an eyebrow. She truly was curious about these ruins, but she was not so reckless as to just rush in to sate her curiosity about it. Not at the moment, at least.

Samus nodded and pointed towards the direction where the ruins would be. She might as well let the girl see it for herself.

Zelda gave the hunter a wary look before nodding. "Alright then, if it really won't cause any trouble." She received a head-shake in response and her escort headed off, showing her the way to the ruins.

As they headed there, Zelda noticed how the armored warrior walked around with such confidence. It gave an indication that she was more than familiar with the planet and its surroundings. So far, Samus has been a rather courteous guide and Zelda appreciated that, and the fact that Samus never hovered to the point of being stifling.

Commander Malkovich had been serious when he said that Samus would be the perfect guide. However, Zelda had noticed that there were moments where the warrior would seem to tense up or appear like something was on their mind.

Of course, being at the academy, Zelda heard stories and rumors but she never paid them much mind. For the most part she easily forgot what her fellow students whispered about and continued on with her studies. She vaguely remembered stories about the incident on Tallon IV, and at times she had seen reports or even heard news of such things. But she remained far from the rumormongers.

Since they seem rather familiar with the ins and outs of Tallon IV, Zelda wondered if Samus had been involved or had been a part of the incident somehow.

The trek to the Chozo Ruins had been silent, though it was at least not awkward or tense, and both escort and charge enjoyed the natural ambience of the planet, especially the sound of rain falling. Since the rain had lightened up a bit, it was now easier for the pair to traverse the wilderness. The light patter did not bother the young scholar since it was not heavily pouring.

At most, Samus had to intimidate unruly predators away and she had noticed Zelda would quickly point her tablet at the creatures from behind the hunter, and the eye on the back seemed to glow. Samus assumed the young scholar was scanning the creature for data, just like she did when she first arrived.

Samus stopped when they reached the ruins. She gently tapped Zelda's head with her armored hand, snapping the young woman out of her musings.

Zelda lifted her head up, her eyes widening when she saw the new surroundings she was in. She gasped in genuine awe. The structures around her were very old and crumbling in places, but still standing. A testament to the ones who created them in the first place.

"Extraordinary…! These are ancient and yet they seem to be in good shape, for the most part." Zelda wandered to the side to touch one of the walls, getting a good look at the structure. She gently ran a gloved hand along the stone, her mind working and imagining how the former residences would have done all this.

Samus watched her, as usual. Zelda was not the first and only one to be fascinated and curious about the Chozo; they were a mysterious race, sometimes even to Samus herself, and they had been the ones who raised her since childhood.

The hunter looked around the main plaza as she followed her charge deeper into the ruins. Even to this day she sometimes still thought of the Chozo who raised her. Looking at what the species left behind made her feel nostalgic, even though the Chozo who had settled on Tallon IV were not the same ones who took her in.

"You've been through here before, right?" Zelda said, looking up at Samus.

The bounty hunter blinked as she was pulled from her thoughts. She nodded in response to the question and pointed forward as an indication that she had gone much farther and deeper than they were now.

Zelda pulled her tablet from her side and lifted it up to her eye-level. "Now that we are here, my Sheikah Slate is picking up some signals, and is creating a much more complete map of the area."

Samus tilted her head slightly as she stared at the device her charge carried with her everywhere. This was the first time she heard it being referred to by name.

Noticing her escort's confusion, Zelda smiled politely in understanding. "Oh, this is a Sheikah Slate. It's been with me for years now after I worked on it for a good bit to get it up and functioning. With this multipurpose device, I can work without much hassle and it's capable of many other functions and applications, but I feel that it might be able to be capable of even more, if given the chance."

Samus nodded. It was now clear why she did not bother to bring some sort of equipment with her, when she had that tablet. Though she was not sure what a Sheikah was, though the term sounded rather familiar. But perhaps it was only something she heard in passing.

The little tour brought them all the way to the sunchamber, where Samus had encountered and fought the Flaahgra. Zelda took a look at the very spot where the monstrous planet creature had once been before she continued on until they reached the Hall of the Elders.

Seeing the Chozo statue for the first time, the young scholar walked up to it. She lifted a hand but then hesitated and dropped her hand down to the side. She did not want to risk damaging it somehow by touching the amazing statue.

"I've heard of the Chozo, but it feels so different standing before an actual statue created by them, in their likeness. It feels so much different than hearing or reading about them." Zelda said softly as her eyes gazed upon the magnificent piece of architecture.

Samus made no verbal or physical response. Instead she also looked over at the statue before gesturing to Zelda it was probably time they headed back.

The young scholar had a flash of disappointment in her eyes but she understood and nodded. She looked at the Chozo statue one last time before following the hunter back to the gunship. They were not done after all; there were more planets that they needed to visit before she was done with everything.

They stepped back out into the rain, and it seemed like Zelda had something on her mind, but the hunter let her be, only catching the young woman's attention when her musings took her off course without her realizing it.

When they finally got back to the ship, Samus pointed to Zelda.

"… Carry me up there?" She guessed, and was answered with a nod. "I suppose so. Since the rain might make the surface of your vessel wet and slippery…"

Before she could go off on a tangent, Samus lifted her up and jumped up onto her ship then placed her down. Zelda blinked, as if taking in just how fast that had happened. Shaking her head, she thanked the hunter and both stepped onto the platform bringing them down into the ship.

Samus immediately headed for the cockpit while Zelda ran a hand through her wet hair.

In the cockpit Samus started up ship. As soon as the vessel came to life, an alarm sounded off. The hunter looked over to see the cause; an urgent message. She answered the call just as her charge rushed in, having been alerted by the sudden noise.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked urgently.

Samus stared at the holoscreen before her; the picture was fuzzy and distorted, but the message was loud and clear, amongst the sound of explosions and crashing.

" **Mayday! Mayday! Requesting assistance! This is the Transport and Passenger ship, Crest! We're under Space Pirate attack! We've taken casualties! There are civilians onboard; there are currently eight on the bridge! Hurry! The pirates are right outside—"**

The message was cut off abruptly and the holoscreen showed nothing on it.

Samus stared at the blank holoscreen before looking back over at her charge. Zelda was staring at the holoscreen as well and she was trembling slightly. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. However, the bounty hunter had no intention of ignoring the call.

She traced the call she had received from the Crest and directed the ship towards the distress signal.

Zelda watched as her escort straightened in the pilot seat, facing forward without a hint of hesitation or concern. It showed her that this warrior was more than used to such circumstances and would not hesitate to fly in if needed. That much was clear to her, even though the young scholar had seen nothing of this individual except for the armor they wore, and heard nothing from them but silence.

"You're answering that distress call, aren't you?" She questioned, sensing she already knew the answer to that. Samus did not respond and instead kept her eyes forward. It was the only confirmation that Zelda needed.

Space Pirates were attacking the ship known as Crest, and they were heading right for the fray.

* * *

 **If the term is unfamiliar: "Elfin" is a species that was mentioned in the Metroid manga but hasn't been shown or mentioned since then; they have pointed ears like Hylians. There was an Elfin on Samus' team of three when she was with the Federation Police.**

 **I apologize for the rather slow start, and if it feels like this chapter dragged on quite a bit.**

 **But here it is at last, a fanfic of Zelda and Samus that isn't just drabbles; and one I had hoped to shape into a full story! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Happy reading!**

 **Until then…**


	2. Chapter 2: The Hunter

**Chapter 2: The Hunter**

The sudden explosion received collective gasps of horror from the people onboard the Crest as they witnessed one of the crew members met his sorry end by being crushed by metallic debris from the door to the bridge blowing up in his face just as he had sent out that distress call.

A little girl screamed in fright as she hugged her older brother tighter. The older boy wrapped his arms around his sibling, keeping her from looking at the deceased man's body anymore.

The foreboding mother ship of the space pirates smacked into the side of their quarry, allowing the pirates to board the Crest easily. Already they had taken over while their leader blasted his way into the bridge where the civilians cowered.

A huge, towering figure of a space pirate boss stomped into the room, staring down at his hostages, easily grabbing and crushing the head of the one human who dared to attempt to shoot him down. It was all in vain, after all.

He looked at the remaining hostages in front of him. The space pirate's eyes narrowed. "Hmph. Sure won't be getting a ransom out of these ones…" He turned to his crew. "Take the cargo! And bring it to our ship! As for these ones…"

The little girl whimpered and pressed closer to her brother while the space pirate leered down at them. The only adult they had with them was a middle-aged man with a fuzzy mustache, and he was trembling just as much even as he tried to tell the pirate to take his life instead of the children's.

"Don't worry," The boy whispered to his sister, "Someone will hear our SOS. Someone will come and rescue us." He gave his younger sister a reassuring smile in an attempt to soothe her fear.

Unfortunately, the pirate boss heard him and was immediately on the young boy. He pressed his large clawed hand against the boy's face aggressively. "What're you saying over here, brat!? You think someone will appear and save you?" The pirate laughed cruelly as he continuously applied pressure to the boy's face. "Where is your savior now? You think some convenient hero will save the day!?"

The pirate scoffed and kicked the boy, sending him flying back into the nearest wall.

His sister rushed to his side, crying out with worry as her brother tried to recover from the abuse. Once again the pirate approached, this time grabbing the boy by the neck and lifted his free arm to show off the deadly-sharp blade attached there.

"That's right, you sniveling brat! Life is no fairytale! Is this a hero coming to save you? No! It is _death_!" The pirate said growled cruelly and pulled his arm back to slice the boy's neck off.

Suddenly, a large and extremely loud explosion made everyone pause. The blast shook the entire ship and one of the space pirate lackeys yelped upon looking up at one of the windows.

"Boss! Our ship! It blew up!"

The pirate boss snarled and tossed the boy away, leaving his little sister and mustached manto look after him. But he was at least alive, with only a bruised cheek.

"How did that happened!? What caused it!?" The boss yelled out in rage as he watched while his ship went up and flames and turned into nothing but debris.

As soon as the smoke cleared, something flew in close at a distance. The pirates' eyes widened at the dinstinct-looking gunship as it flew in close to the Crest.

"It can't be! That's…!"

* * *

Zelda watched as Samus hurried to the platform that would take her up top. Before she did so, the hunter turned to Zelda and pointed her finger downwards at the floor, letting her know that she wanted the young scholar to stay put in the ship where she would be safe.

Once she made her message clear, Samus headed up to the top of her ship, rising to meet her enemies.

She headed for the entrance to the Crest, ridding the ship of any space pirate she came across, easily dispatching them with a couple of shots from her arm cannon, or even a good deadly punch or kick in vulnerable parts of their body.

While the bounty hunter made her way deeper into the ship, the pirate boss began to shake with rage.

"Th-that's Samus…! The monster who destroys entire planets!" One of the pirates said, trembling as he looked at one of the security monitors before the feed was cut off in the crossfire.

The pirate suddenly gagged as the boss grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up to his eye-level.

"And what do you know about Samus!? He's just _one_ bounty hunter! So quit your sniveling and _kill_ him! Form up and crush him!" The pirate boss yelled impatiently and tossed his lackey aside before ordering the others to surround and kill the approaching threat.

The space pirates obeyed immediately and rushed out of the bridge, heading Samus' way.

"Samus is in Hold No.1! All units form up for the assault! _Kill Samus_!" The lead lackey ordered as they took positions as soon as the hunter stepped in.

Before her stood an army of space pirates, more than ready to eliminate her. She noticed the turrets and Gatling guns, wielded by slightly bigger and bulkier pirates, pointed in her direction. She stared at her enemies, this scene was more than a little familiar to her. She glanced at every direction of her surroundings, but her posture was tall and proud.

The bounty hunter's blank visor and calm posture was enough to intimidate her enemies, but they had no intention of backing down, especially when they had her outnumbered. Samus still remained calm, despite the odds being against her.

"Your legend ends here, Samus!" One of the pirates announced as he waved his clawed hand forward. "Open fire! Cut him down!"

The turrets and guns began firing and the hunter ran headlong into the fray. Her speed increased as she ran towards her opponents, dodging every bullet and blast with ease. They barely scratched her armor as she ran at blinding speeds.

"We're not hitting him!? That's impossible!" One of the pirates stumbled back in shock.

Samus leapt into the air, heading for the middle. Instantly, the hunter's body curled down into her Morph Ball form as she landed in the middle of the pirate horde. Not wasting a second, she dropped a bomb and flew out of the way just as the Morph Ball's bomb exploded, lending Samus a boost into the air.

She uncurled from her ball state and skidded across the metallic floor, shooting out deadly blasts at the pirates, her shots hitting their marks. The pirates screamed in pain as they flew back after being hit by the bounty hunter's powerful beam attacks.

Samus continued to skid along the floor until she neared a wall. She stretched her leg out, stopping her as she sent out another blast from her arm cannon. The pirates grew more anxious and terrified as she wreaked havoc on them. Suddenly, the hunter reached over, to where a discarded Gatling gun laid.

The pirate trembled. "What is he…?"

Lifting the gun up in one hand with ease, Samus pointed it at the remaining pirates, along with her cannon. She fired, sending a rain of bullets flying, while at the same time, she shot beams out of her cannon, eliminating all in her path without a problem.

As the battle raged on, the pirate boss who remained in the bridge could hear the screams of his own troops over at the intercom as they were taken down one by one.

"What is happening down there!? Respond!" He called out, but was met with nothing but more screams and the sound of blasts. The pirate boss let out an angry hiss.

Behind him, the hostages could also hear the commotion. The little boy was awed. _"Samus…beat them all? Alone? Amazing!"_ To think that one person alone could take down a horde of deadly space pirates so quickly!

"Agh! All of my troops together should have done the trick! How is this even possible?" The pirate boss snarled before hissing again and turning to his hostages.

* * *

In the gunship, Zelda was feeling restless. She paced in the cockpit, only able to hear explosions here and there, but unsure of what was happening. Whether she liked it or not, she was quite worried about her escort. Space Pirates were deadly and heartless, everyone knew that. And yet Samus had gone off to deal with who knows how many of them.

This situation was not something the young scholar ever expected she would experience, even if she was far from the danger zone, in a manner of speaking. However, that still did not make it any less nerve-wracking, especially when Samus had just up and left to rush into danger.

So far, only several minutes had passed but Zelda was growing more and more anxious in her pacing. All she had to do was to stay put in the safety of the gunship but for some reason, it was proving difficult for her to do. She felt a strange sense of dread overcome her even though her escort was most likely a professional.

Unable to stand it any longer, Zelda looked through the windshield of the ship before turning to the control panel. The ship was still up and running, awaiting its master's return.

Narrowing her eyes, she observed the panel carefully before something in her head clicked. She tapped at some of the controls then sat down on the pilot seat, mentally apologizing to Samus as she carefully maneuvered the gunship closer to the Crest until both vessels were close enough to each other. Zelda spotted the docking bay of the Crest. It had been left open just enough for the gunship to squeeze through. If she could maneuver the vessel carefully, she could land it inside the Crest and step out safely.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda carefully steered the gunship to the opening and the vessel managed to enter, but not without hitting a tiny bump. Zelda winced, hoping the hunter would not be too upset about that, and that the ship hadn't been scratched badly.

As soon as the ship managed to dock, Zelda rushed to the platform and it lifted her to the topside of the ship. This time, Zelda did not hesitate to move to the side of the ship and sat, sliding down the side of the ship. The young blonde grunted as she took a tumble onto the cold hard floor of the docking bay. Her entire torso and head ached badly from the impact of her fall, but she forced herself up and took her Sheikah Slate from her side. She lifted it up and the eye began scanning the ship's interior.

The tablet beeped and revealed the map of the area. But before she could take a step forward, another loud explosion caught her attention. Zelda's ears twitched slightly and she headed for the noise.

Once the ruckus grew louder, she knew she was on the right track. However, once she found herself at a crossroads, she lifted her slate to check her directions, before turning to one side and rushing down the halls.

She ended up in a hold and coughed as she was greeted by smoke and the sight of a massacre of space pirates. Zelda froze and shuddered; did Samus do this? There were so many dead pirates, along with burns and holes all around, likely from bullets and some sort of energy. Did that one bounty hunter eliminate them all?

A loud clank made her jump and whirl around. As the smoke cleared, she could make out the form of Samus who had just dropped a Gatling gun, and was now assessing the carnage of their enemies. Before Zelda could approach the hunter to get their attention, a loud voice called out.

"Samus!"

The young scholar gasped and ducked behind the metal crates that littered the hold. She peered from behind the crate to see Samus turning towards the source of the booming voice. As soon as the hunter did so, the enormous and frightening form of the pirate boss step forward. It was hard to tell with his emotionless face but it very likely he was glaring down at Samus.

"You have caused me a lot of trouble, hunter!" The boss snarled.

Samus tensed when she noticed what the pirate had in his large claws; he held on tightly onto the back of the collars of spacesuits belonging to a man with a mushy mustache, and a young boy. The hunter lifted her arm cannon and pointed it at the pirate boss. A clear demand to release the two civilians.

"I have no intention of letting these two go. You want them, you're gonna have to put down your weapon." The pirate demanded, leering down at the bounty hunter.

Samus just stared right at the pirate, her expressionless visor not giving any of her intentions or thoughts. The pirate boss stared back at her, waiting for the so-called hero to make the decision to put the arm cannon down in exchange of the hostages' safety.

Suddenly, the man with the mustache coughed and lifted his head slightly to glance at whoever was challenging the space pirate. "Hey…you…! Our safety is your _top priority_! You hear!? So do as he says! Put that gun down!" He was clearly hysterical.

Samus, however, continued to stare at the pirate. She had no intention of doing as the pirate boss said, and her weapon remained trained on him. Instead, she charged her arm cannon.

From where she hid, Zelda watched the scene anxiously. She knew bounty hunters were capable of being quite a ruthless bunch, but she had never ever seen it in action. Samus was demonstrating the nerve of steel that a bounty hunter would need to have when facing adversaries.

"Heh. Trying to be a hero, Samus? If you try, you'll just end up hitting the hostages. So, what will it be?" The pirate boss scoffed.

Suddenly, the boy stirred and opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at the hunter. "S-Samus…? F-finish this guy off…Samus…"

The bounty hunter moved her gaze to him.

Zelda looked over at the hostages the pirate kept in his grasp. The boy was too young to be experiencing such horrors, and yet he had such a brave look in his eyes. He had given Samus the go-ahead to fight the pirate boss, even at the risk of his own life.

When Samus still did not react, the pirate shifted a bit. From her hiding spot behind the metal crates, Zelda could see that the space pirate was growing nervous over the fact that none of his threats and intimidation seems to be affecting the bounty hunter. If such a creature like him could sweat, then he would most certainly be sweating bullets.

Making up his mind, the pirate made his move. He drew is arm back. "Fine, have it your way. The hostages are returned!" He threw the man and boy at Samus, catching the hunter off guard at the sudden move.

" _Heh. The only choice he has now is to save 'em, or shoot! Whichever choice he makes, when he does do it, I will slice all of them at once!"_ The pirate boss readied the blade attached to his arm, already prepared to cut the hostages, and the armored warrior, in half.

Samus rushed forward towards the flying hostages. In a split second she jumped and landed on the mustached man, and the boy's shoulder, causing them to be pushed downwards just before the blade of the pirate could touch them. At the same time, Samus used the momentum she gained from using them as a stepladder, and flying over the space pirate's head and finally unleashed the Charge Beam blast into his chest.

The pirate fell back, crying out in pain.

Samus' feet hit the wall of the hold and she pushed herself forward, quickly grabbing the young boy and holding him in her arms, shielding him with her armored body before got caught in the blast.

Zelda gasped as she watched the entire scene unfold before her very eyes. Her heart was racing in her chest at how frighteningly quickly everything had happened. Yet it all seemed as if it all moved in slow motion, her eyes having watched it all.

The chaos began to settle, and everything started to calm down again. Zelda decided it was time to get up from her hiding spot and reveal herself to her escort until she noticed something in her peripheral vision. Her eyes widened and looked at the debris around her until she found what looked like a long, broken piece of metal. She picked it up and then lifted up her slate.

"Nayru; Stasis!"

Samus placed the boy down onto his feet once all was clear, and the mustached man coughed and rubbed his sore shoulder.

"You…! What you did was reckless! You could have gotten us all killed!" He yelled in complaint, but the hunter ignored him, and instead just focused on the boy. "Hey! Are you listening to me!?"

The young boy stared at the opaque visor, his eyes widened in awe as the hunter gently pat his head. As he continued to stare, he could have sworn he could begin to see the eyes behind that T-shaped visor.

A loud yelp from the mustached man caught the hunter's attention and she whirled around, seeing the pirate boss limping towards them. Immediately she lifted her arm cannon and began charging up another blast.

"This isn't over, hunter!" The space pirate weakly lifted his large claws and swung at the armored warrior, ignoring the painfully large hole in his chest.

Before anybody could realize what was happening, a crashing sound was heard and a large, metallic crate suddenly flew in, crashing right into the already-weakened pirate, sending him flying into the wall of the hold, and crushing him. His clawed hand twitched, then turned limp.

The hostages gaped in confusion. Samus scanned the crate and the dead body that laid underneath it before she turned around to face the direction in which the metal crate came flying from. What she saw surprised her quite a bit.

Zelda stood there, amongst other metal crates, looking like a deer in the headlights. She was shaking, visibly in shock at what she had just done. Whatever it was.

Samus lifted her hand and slowly approached the young scholar. Zelda did not move and the hunter was able to place her hand on her shoulder. Zelda jumped a bit and looked up at the bounty hunter, looking a little frightened. In her trembling hands, she was clutching her Sheikah Slate.

Carefully, the hunter lowered Zelda's hands and the tablet device. Whatever she did, it had shocked even Zelda herself. Samus could not blame her; she had just _crushed_ a space pirate with a crate, somehow.

Once her charge had regained her composure a bit, Samus tapped on her arm cannon, sending a message to the Federation that the Crest was safe and that the space pirate threat had been dealt with. With the unexpected mission over, Samus placed her hand on Zelda's shoulder again and began escorting her back to the gunship. They were still not done with each other after all.

As they walked away, the mustached man huffed. "Who hell was that? They didn't even give me a chance to say thanks. Hmph. I guess someone like that doesn't have any human emotions."

With the danger gone, the little girl managed to reunite with her older brother, and she caught him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, but his thoughts were on the bounty hunter who saved the day. The hunter had smiled at him, he was sure. _"You're wrong. The person behind the mask…had such kind eyes. Samus, thank you."_

* * *

Once they were settled inside the gunship, Samus took over and flew the vessel out of the Crest's docking bay, and back out into space. Zelda had been silent the whole time but she had stopped shaking. She remained standing in the middle of the cockpit, staring down at her own shoes.

Samus punched in the coordinates of the next planet in the field study, and put her ship on autopilot before getting up and approaching her charge. Zelda flinched away slightly as if fearing the hunter may strike her. Hesitantly, she lifted her head and looked up at the armored warrior.

"… I'm sorry, about piloting your ship." She said finally.

Samus shook her head, trying to show that she was not upset about her ship. It had taken much worse damage than a mere scratch, dent, or having someone else move it around. This made Zelda relax somewhat.

"I know you told me to stay put. I just… I don't what I was thinking! I suppose I was just growing so nervous and anxious, and… I acted on impulse!"

The hunter remained silent as usual, letting her charge take out all of her nervous-energy. She watched Zelda carefully; her scans were showing that the young scholar was close to having some sort of a panic attack. Samus tapped the young woman's head and Zelda flinched back.

"I'm sorry," She apologized again.

In response, Samus just tilted her head and pointed at the Sheikah Slate. She was certain that her charge had dealt with that pirate with the help of the device she kept at her side at all times.

Zelda placed her hand at her side, over the slate. "… Stasis."

Underneath her helmet, Samus raised an eyebrow. She then made a gesture for Zelda to go ahead and explain herself.

"… As I said before; the Sheikah Slate is a multipurpose device. I use it to help me in my research, but it is capable of other things…" She glanced up at Samus and the hunter just nodded.

Zelda inhaled deeply to calm herself before explaining further, "What happened back there in the Crest…was due to Stasis. It's an application that allows me to freeze an object in time and the object stores its kinetic energy. So, whatever energy has been stored will act upon the object once time resumes. In other words, I used Stasis on the crate and then while it was frozen in place, I hit it a couple of times as hard as I could, and once time was up, it just…flew."

The hunter nodded in understanding; so that was how she sent a large metal crate flying so fast and forceful enough to crush a space pirate boss. It seemed there was more to her little charge than she had assumed.

While Samus was not happy that the young woman had ignored her warnings to stay back, and had put herself into such a dangerous situation that would have most likely gotten her injured or worse, the hunter had to admit that Zelda had done some quick-thinking. It was quite impressive, especially with that little device of hers that she had, up until now, used for only study.

Despite the impressive feat, Samus hoped that the young blonde would not have to do such a thing again. Even if it had been a space pirate she had crushed, someone like her had never been in combat situations before, let along harmed anyone or anything. The hunter would make sure Zelda's hands would remain clean until the end of this escort mission.

Next stop; Norion.

* * *

 **For those who might be wondering. The man with the mustache was not Mario nor was he a reference to Mario, he is just a man with a mustache, who was freaking out.**

 **And as usual, Samus showed off her amazing badass skills and power! And Zelda demonstrates some of the Sheikah Slate's abilities for the first time, with awesomely shocking results. Hopefully getting to her next assigned planet that would take her mind off of the fact she crushed someone with a huge metal crate.**

 **Until then…**


	3. Chapter 3: The Scholar

**Chapter 3: The Scholar**

Norion's forests were beautiful. It kept Zelda busy as she took pictures of certain scenery that caught her eye, and the Sheikah Slate documented everything.

There were trees everywhere, and life was thriving. She had requested that, like on Tallon IV, they steer clear from the Federation base stationed on the planet. She wanted to work on her studies without any interference, and she felt that being out on the field like this without depending on the Federation base gave more meaning and significance to her research.

Samus followed close behind, keeping her left hand on top of her arm cannon. She was relaxed at the moment but still kept a cautious eye out for any of the aggressive local wildlife or any other sort of potential danger. Ever since they left the Crest behind, the bounty hunter made sure to keep a closer eye on her charge.

Though she did not say a word about it, Zelda was aware of this fact. There was no point in protesting, and so she focused on her field research. At times she did wonder what was on Samus' mind. The hunter did not speak a single word to her, and it was nothing something that bothered her, but her curious nature kept nagging at her. She shook her head and focused; after this should be one more planet and then she could return back to Daiban and present her thesis. That was the reason why she was here in the first place.

It still did not stop her from stealing glances at the bounty hunter, however.

The silent warrior just fascinated her, even though Zelda was sure it might not be a good idea to stick one's nose in the business of a bounty hunter. She had witnessed just a bit of what Samus was capable of back at the ship, Crest. Despite this, she could not help but wonder.

A tap on the top of her head made her jump and yelp. Zelda's eyes widened as she whirled around to see it was only Samus. She sighed in relief. "Yes?"

Samus pointed at the Sheikah Slate, then tapped on its screen.

Zelda considered the action for a moment. "You…want to know more about this slate, am I right?"

A nod confirmed her suspicions and she sighed, looking at their surroundings. So far, nothing was coming out to attack them. Perhaps they could take a break for a little bit.

"What is it you want to know?" Zelda asked finally, looking right at the glowing visor.

Samus reached over and tapped at the eye that adorned the center of the back of the Sheikah Slate.

Zelda seemed to understand the gesture. At least, the context of it. "Have you heard of the Sheikah? This is device is of their making."

The bounty hunter pointed at Zelda and tilted her head slightly.

"Me? No, I'm not a Sheikah." The young woman shook her head. "I am going to assume you also thought I was an Elfin…?"

Samus nodded in conformation.

"Hm… That's understandable. Don't worry, you didn't offend me or anything like that; I've gotten quite used to it. When I first arrived on Daiban, many did either ask or assume that I was an Elfin. After all, while we have no relations to each other, I can see why they would make that mistake." Zelda said, touching the back of her pointed ear, almost a little self-consciously.

The hunter tilted her head again.

"To answer your question; I'm actually a Hylian," Zelda said.

Samus' visor scanned the young woman, and it was confirmed; Zelda was not Elfin. Though she did not have data on Hylians, so the young scholar would have to be the first to provide the information for her database.

"Convinced now?" Zelda asked, smirking knowingly. "I may not be able to see your face but you were staring for a rather long time. Scanning me to make sure my claims were legitimate?"

The bounty hunter tensed a bit but relaxed when her charge just chuckled and started laughing a bit. Samus blinked, suddenly caught off guard at before she let out a chuckle of her own. It was surprising that so far, Zelda seemed very aware of whatever the hunter was trying to convey. Even more surprising that she had guessed that Samus was scanning her, but did not seem offended by it.

"Well, since you did scan me, it's only fair if I do the same. May I?" Zelda lifted up her Sheikah Slate and snapped a picture of the bounty hunter. "Perfect!"

She showed the image to Samus who rubbed the back of her helmet with her armored hand, seeming almost embarrassed.

"You haven't met many Hylians before, have you?" Zelda said, strapping her device to her waist. "I can also hazard a guess that you have never been to the planet of Hylia."

Again, the hunter responded by only shaking her head.

"It's quite far, I will admit. It was quite the journey to get to Daiban from Hylia but I'd say it was worth it, to me. I miss it sometimes, though. But I told myself I'd keep moving forward; that's not to say I wouldn't visit from time to time…" Zelda said before she shook her head, realizing she had been rambling. "Sorry! I still didn't answer all your questions about the Sheikah Slate."

Samus just shrugged. She did not mind the rambling but she could not deny she still wondered about Zelda's device. The young scholar then opened her mouth to speak before she seemed to change her mind. Instead she seemed to be thinking to herself.

Zelda was giving the hunter a look; her eyes were narrowed in a cautious way and she seemed to be thinking, contemplating hard and carefully. "… All right, how about this: You tell me what that suit of yours can do, and in exchange I will tell you what my Sheikah Slate can do! Sounds fair?"

The bounty hunter frowned and crossed her arms. Another attempt at trying to learn about her Power Suit and Chozo origins?

Zelda straightened, her expression stern and her voice firm. "Don't misunderstand. I only want us to be on an even playing field; I'm not doing this to try and study and discover whatever secret it is you may be holding—I'll admit I _am_ curious but I will respect your privacy—and if I'm to show you what my device is capable of, I would like a show in return. And I promise not spread word to anyone, so as long as you don't spread things about my Sheikah Slate. What we show to each other here remains between us."

The silent hunter considered the young woman's words for a moment. It was nothing new for people to gossip about her and her arsenal, and more than a handful of scientists tried making heads or tails of her armor, so it would not be such a big loss to her especially since nobody could truly emulate Chozo technology. Zelda's Sheikah Slate, however, was something new to the hunter. She had no intention of stealing the device or its abilities. She had nothing to gain from it.

At last Samus gave her charge a nod and offered her hand as a sign of promise.

Zelda took a deep breath before she reached out and shook the hunter's hand, only to be surprised at how gentle the hold was. She had been expecting a very firm and hard grip, and while she did feel and sense the power behind the way the armored warrior held her hand, there was a gentleness to it.

Clearing her throat, Zelda looked around. "So, you already saw a bit of what Stasis is capable of… But I suppose one simple demonstration wouldn't hurt." Looking around, her eyes finally caught sight of a large rock.

Samus watched as she tapped on the screen of her device before pointing it at boulder.

"Nayru. Activate Stasis," Zelda ordered and suddenly golden chains made of light appeared out of nowhere for a brief second, chaining down the boulder in place, before disappearing. However, there seemed to be a dim golden aura surrounding the boulder.

Zelda stepped back and looked up at Samus. "Now, strike it."

The hunter stared down at her, giving her an odd look from behind her visor.

"Hurry! Hit the boulder as much as you can and as hard as you can!" The young scholar insisted and pushed the hunter towards the frozen rock.

Sighing to herself, Samus punched the boulder multiple times in quick succession until Zelda rushed over and pulled on her arm. "Okay that should be enough. Step back now!"

Samus glanced at her then moved away from the boulder. The moment she did, the golden aura vanished and the lump of rock suddenly took off, rocketing into the sky and out of sight.

Zelda stared upwards, watching as the boulder disappeared into the distance, before looking at her escort with a grin. "Amazing, isn't it?"

The hunter nodded. It was not something she saw before, she will admit, but she understood how that could possibly work. And now she knew how Zelda had been able to send a large hunk of metal, much larger than herself, flying.

"Now, it's your turn! What can you do with that suit of yours?" Zelda asked, an eager shine in her green eyes.

Samus thought for a moment. She did not want to cause any injury while showing her arsenal. But it was still best to start with something a little simple. She lifted her arm cannon and pointed at it. The green lines of light than ran along the cannon suddenly turned blue. The hunter looked around for a target before settling it on another large rock.

She took aim and fired an ice beam at it, freezing the rock entirely.

Zelda seemed intrigued and stared at the arm cannon. "I see… That blue light indicates the usage of an ice blast. Alright, that's not bad at all! Huh… Do you know where we can find a water source? I need it for the next demonstration."

Samus scanned the area before pointing in another direction. She waved her charge over and Zelda followed her.

When they arrived at their destination, there was a small lake and it seemed to be satisfactory to whatever it was that the young scholar was planning to do. Samus stayed back while her charge stepped closer to the water and tapped on her tablet device again, then pointed it at the water.

"Nayru. Activate Cryonis."

Samus looked on as, almost immediately, a block of ice formed up and rose from the surface of the lake. The block of ice seemed to have strange runes on it, or they could merely be squiggly lines. When she looked back at Zelda, the young scholar raised up two more blocks of ice before pointing the Sheikah Slate at the first ice block she had created. In a matter of seconds, it disintegrated into nothing but bits of ice chunks. The two other blocks soon followed.

The hunter had to admit that it was impressive such a little device was capable of such a thing. But now it was her turn to demonstrate something else. Nothing dangerous, of course.

The arm cannon's light turned white and she tapped Zelda's head before pointing at her cannon. She then fired, but it was not an attack. Instead it seemed to shoot a thin white beam. Zelda raised an eyebrow until the hunter shot the beam out again and snatched her Sheikah Slate away.

"Hey!" She gasped.

Samus chuckled as she caught the slate and returned it to its owner. She pat the young woman's head as a sign of no-hard-feelings.

"So you have a grappling function in that thing. I see. Well…" Zelda held her Sheikah Slate on both sides and pointed it at Samus. "Activate Magnesis!"

All of a sudden, a large holographic image of a magnet appeared on top of the device and the hunter found herself being lifted up slightly. Acting on instinct, she shot the Grapple Beam at the Sheikah, taking it from Zelda's hands.

Samus landed back down on her feet and looked to her charge before tossing the slate to her again. Zelda gasped and stumbled as she caught her device, landing on her backside with a grunt. The Sheikah Slate was safe on her lap.

"Well… That's about all I can show you." Zelda said once she got back to her feet and dusted her pants off.

Samus lifted a finger and then pointed to herself. The young scholar raised an eyebrow at her escort, wondering what she was up to. Suddenly, Samus curled up and in her place was a large, round, metallic sphere.

"What was…?" Zelda stared at the sphere and walked around it. Did Samus just compact herself into a ball? How? Was she inside the sphere, or was she the sphere? Once again, Zelda found herself intrigued by something new.

Samus suddenly sprang back up from her Morph Ball form and Zelda yelped, jumping back and clutching her chest. The hunter chuckled and pat Zelda's head gently as an apology.

It was rather surprising and the young scholar could not help but be amazed. The hunter seemed almost playful during their demonstrations to each other; so far Zelda had only seen and assumed the hunter was just a cold yet strong and powerful being. And to an extent, she had been right. But this hunter who had agreed to play along with showing off their devices' abilities, was acting like anything but cold.

"That caught me off guard, I'll admit." Zelda mumbled.

Samus pointed to the Sheikah Slate again.

Zelda seemed puzzled until something clicked. "What? … Oh. Were you wondering who Nayru was during the demonstration?"

The hunter nodded.

"Nayru is what I decided to refer to the… Well, I wouldn't say it's an A.I. It's not. It's more the device itself. But it does respond to my voice commands. Though I don't really need to use voice commands to activate any of the applications; I can use the Sheikah Slate just fine by itself. The only reason I named it was… Well, a friend suggested I give it a name."

Samus just nodded in understanding, seemingly satisfied with the explanation, and Zelda fiddled with a strand of her hair, feeling quite embarrassed for having to reveal such a trivial and silly thing.

"Well, let's not dawdle! There's still more work I need to get done!" Zelda said, rather hastily and headed off to another direction, away from the lake. The hunter did not protest and the two continued on.

As Zelda walked on ahead, Samus felt strange the urge to scan the young Hylian woman again. When she did give in to the temptation, the hunter found herself puzzled when her scans revealed, despite her bright and eager disposition, that the young scholar seemed to be hiding some signs of nervousness. Something akin to anxiety…

* * *

Zelda seemed to have calmed down much later when she became busy with studying and research. Norion's forests had much for her to discover and she had been able to gather a few samples she planned on studying later in the gunship.

Samus kept an eye on her, still wondering what the young scholar could be hiding that would make her rather anxious but kept it covered with a cheerful face. However, at the moment she seemed to be fine with no signs of tension or nervousness. Hopefully, the Hylian wasn't planning anything that could cause any sort of trouble in every sense of the word.

A loud grumbling made the two pause. Zelda blushed and Samus looked over at her, and when she did, the grumbling happened again.

Zelda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, no… I have forgotten to eat again."

The bounty hunter's eyes widened; she had forgotten about keeping her charge fed. Just because she could go days without eating at times, that didn't mean Zelda could. The hunter mentally berated herself for neglecting the food factor. To her surprise though, Zelda was the one to apologize.

"I'm sorry. I just become so engrossed with what I am doing that I forget about feeding myself…" She groaned in dismay. The last thing she had eaten was breakfast before heading off, and with everything that had happened, especially with the sudden detour to deal with the Crest situation, Zelda had forgotten her need for sustenance.

Samus walked up to her then saw Zelda patting her pockets until she pulled something out. The hunter frowned from behind her visor as the young scholar ripped the packet open, revealing a stick of beef jerky.

Zelda took a bite of the jerky; it would have to do for a while. She then bit down on the stick of jerky, holding it in her mouth as she kept working.

In a way, the sight was rather endearing to the hunter. But beef jerky would not be enough to sustain her for too long. They would have to get back to the gunship after this. Samus may not have much to offer in terms of a proper meal but they were at least something that could keep her from starving.

Zelda was once again occupied with her research until her beef jerky was gone and nothing but the wrapper was left. And not a moment too soon; Zelda seemed to have also finished her data-gathering and sample-gathering the moment she had taken her last bite of jerky.

"This should be more than enough now." Zelda said with a sigh, sounding tired but having a satisfied look on her face.

Samus made her way over to tap her finger on the top of Zelda's head and pointed at the young scholar then back towards the direction the gunship was most likely at. It was time for her charge to get fed.

Zelda nodded and followed her escort back to the ship. "I'm sorry for being so troublesome. I'm sure this sort of job is not something you would usually do, considering with how effectively you handle Space Pirate threats."

Samus looked at the Hylian and shook her head. True, escort missions were not her favorite but so far, Zelda had been a proper charge. While it had been reckless of her to run into the danger zone while there had been space pirates and hostages, she had shown some ingenuity in such a situation rather than running in like a fool. Aside from the Crest incident, Zelda had been the most behaved charge the bounty hunter ever met. And that was saying something, considering even the quiet ones Samus had to guard were either quite pompous or they overestimated themselves, which led to recklessness, and at times that led to Samus having to deal for more than she was supposed to.

The pair finally reached the gunship the moment Zelda's stomach began to growl again. However it was not as loud as last time since she had nibbled on beef jerky.

"This is embarrassing…" Zelda grumbled.

Samus chuckled a bit and pointed at the ship before pointing at Zelda again.

"No, no. I can climb up on my own!" She insisted and stepped up to the gunship. She stared at it and realized it quite resembled Samus' helmet a whole lot, though Samus' visor was more sleek looking and T-shaped. And the color of the ship resembled Samus' armor quite a bit.

Zelda stepped forward and began climbing the side of the ship. Samus crossed her arms and watched as Zelda slowly made a climb up the vessel. So far, she did not seem to be slipping. Maybe she would make it this time.

With that in mind, the bounty hunter made a leap and landed on the top of her ship just as Zelda made it to the top as well.

The Hylian exhaled and stumbled to her feet, but was caught by Samus before she could slip or fall off the ship. The hunter pulled her over to the platform and it brought them down to the inside of the ship.

Once they were inside, Samus pointed towards the kitchen area.

Zelda sighed. "What do you have, exactly?"

Samus went to the kitchen and pulled out a few packages and handed them to Zelda to take her pick. It was not much nor would it be considered a 'real meal' in the eyes of many. But it was something, and they tasted pretty good, in Samus' opinion.

The young scholar looked at the boxes she had been given. The bounty hunter lived on MREs and frozen meals, but then again she did not feel all that surprised. Samus was a bounty hunter after all. But it was not her place to judge. Either way, Zelda did not mind the frozen meals. She was used to them herself.

"I'll have this one…" She lifted her desired frozen meal up and handed the boxes back to the hunter.

Samus nodded and put the other choices away before gesturing for Zelda to help herself to the kitchen while the hunter went back to the cockpit.

Zelda looked at her. "You're not going to eat?"

The hunter glanced at her and shook her head and pointed at the Hylian, indicating that Zelda needed food more than Samus did. She ignored the young scholar's disapproving look and retreated to the cockpit yet again.

Once she was out of sight, Zelda could not help but notice that her escort did that often; stay in the cockpit when not out in the field. She was not sure when it was Samus ate last or if they ate at all, nor was she sure if the warrior needed food or not—however considering the fact that the bounty hunter had a kitchen area stocked with some packets and frozen meals, and one did not just stock up their kitchen if they had no need for food, it was likely they did—but it did not mean the armored warrior should go on without eating as well.

In the cockpit, Samus busied herself with checking the systems of her ship, as well as making sure everything was in order. She was always on the alert for danger and distress calls that may come in. As she was doing so, she heard the hatch open.

Samus turned to look around her seat to see Zelda step in, holding a tray if now-warmed up frozen meal. She approached the bounty hunter then stopped at a respectable distance.

"I know you said you won't be eating anything. But I thought I'd still bring you something to eat anyway." Zelda approached closer when the hunter showed no signs of feeling like her space was being invaded.

Zelda placed carefully placed the warmed tray of food on the hand rest of the pilot seat before backing off. "I'm sorry, but I hope you don't mind. If you were trying save up on these, then…when we get back to Daiban, I'll purchase new ones for you. I'll just head back and…eat my own meal."

When the young scholar left the cockpit, Samus stared at the tray. She picked it up and placed it on her lap, the heat not bothering her through the armor. Perhaps she should eat something, especially since Miss Zelda was nice enough to heat up another frozen meal for her.

With a shrug to no one in particular, Samus pulled off her helmet and her blonde ponytail flowed down. The hunter placed her helmet aside and helped herself to the meal, glad to finally have some time to feed herself even a little.

* * *

Hours later, Zelda was still busy in the cabin of the ship when Samus finally decided to check in on her.

The young Hylian was hunched over the desk, her eyes focused and intent on getting everything puzzled out. This was also the most Samus had seen her desk in the room look so cluttered with work, but she did not mind. She did not really use it as much as Zelda was at the moment.

Samus approached her and Zelda looked up from what she was doing and turned to see the hunter stepping in.

Zelda turned to face her escort. "Oh, is everything all right? I was just working on these specimens and taking down notes, so nothing else has happened aside from that, if you were wondering. Sorry about the mess, by the way. It'll be cleaned up once I have everything organized."

The hunter shook her head to let her charge know she was not bothered by the clutter on her desk. Instead, she moved a bit closer and tilted her head slightly in question.

"Everything is going well. I suspect that all these will be more than enough to get me just one stop closer to graduating in my studies. Hopefully." The young Hylian sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

Samus crossed her arms at her.

"I'll sleep once I'm done with all this. And if nothing new comes up in my research…" Zelda yawned again and shook her head to wake herself up more.

The hunter flicked Zelda's forehead in disapproval, making her charge yelp.

"Ow! I said I would sleep once I am finished! Honestly, I don't see why you're so concerned." The Hylian mumbled.

Samus shrugged at her charge as if to say "Do what you want".

Eventually, Zelda did end up growing so tired to the point that she could barely keep her eyes open and she kept yawning. When she was close to practically falling over from falling asleep, she would smack her cheeks to wake herself up. She did not need to look over her shoulder to know that her escort was probably wearing a smug smirk underneath that helmet.

Thankfully, the hunter did not disturb the young Hylian the entire time as she worked. Zelda inwardly appreciated her escort's respect for her need for peace and space while she worked. Samus also never stayed still for too long. The hunter would watch over her for a while before going off doing whatever else, be inspecting her ship from the interior or exterior, before going back again to see if Zelda was still working or had fallen asleep.

When Samus did decide to go back and check on her charge, Zelda came to her. The young scholar cleared her throat.

"Um… You'll be glad to know that…I managed to complete my research for this planet. We can continue to the last one." Zelda said, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly.

Samus nodded, but before she could try to get her charge to get some rest while she brings them to the last assigned planet, she could hear beeping coming from the cockpit. An incoming message.

The bounty hunter looked down at Zelda and pointed towards the cabin, reminding her that she needed to sleep now. Thankfully, the young scholar complied, now that her work was done for now. She looked just about ready to collapse as she headed back to the sleeping quarters.

In the meantime, Samus went to check the message.

* * *

Inevitably, Federation base had been aware of Samus' ship coming in for a landing and they had tracked Samus' ship down and paid her a visit to invite her over to scout the base and planet along with them. When the hunter went up top, she was greeted by the sight of Federation soldiers standing by her gunship.

"It would be an honor and an immense help if you'd join us on our patrols, Samus Aran. We don't expect trouble to show up, but if anything does pop up, we'll be ready to dispatch it quickly."

Samus thought it over then looked over at the platform, seeing it go down into the ship before coming back up with Zelda, who had made her way over to see what the commotion was about. She frowned upon seeing the Federation soldiers below, but made no comment and just stayed behind the hunter.

The soldiers exchanged a look and then decided to wait at a distance for the hunter to come to them with her answer.

Once they were given some space, Samus looked down at her charge. She seemed rather bothered that their peace and quiet had been interrupted; the scientist types almost always did tend to butt heads with the military types. But perhaps also seeing the soldiers may have reminded Zelda of the incident on the Crest, just a bit.

It could not hurt to lend a hand in making sure the planet had nothing wrong with it. Especially considering the last time she visit Norion. Although it would mean taking her eyes off of her charge, and the last time she had to leave Zelda behind in the ship, the Hylian had up and piloted her gunship to look for the hunter.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, I promise not to run off again like last time." Zelda reassured when the hunter just stared at her through her visor. She had a feeling Samus was concerned she might pull another stunt like with the Crest.

Samus continued to stare at her for a moment, probably judging if the young scholar meant it when she said she would stay back this time, and nodded in approval before gently patting the Hylian's head in thanks. She pointed downwards to remind Zelda that she was allowed to help herself if she ever got hungry, and to continue her rest. The hunter lifted a finger to indicate that she would be back soon.

Zelda nodded. "You be careful then. I'm sure you've done this sort of thing many times before and I know it's your job to be my escort, but I'd feel terrible if you somehow got injured in the process."

The hunter shrugged nonchalantly. She's had her share of terrible wounds, some even fatal that nearly cost her life, and she had the scars to show for it.

"Look, we may have known each other for only…a day or two now, but you've been nothing but generous to me, so I hope you would be safe and take care of yourself." Zelda said, placing a hand on top of Samus' arm cannon.

Samus seemed surprised by the gentle gesture and stared at Zelda. Suddenly, as if realizing she must have overstepped some sort of boundaries, Zelda pulled her hand away and averted her gaze.

The armored bounty hunter pat the young scholar's shoulder in reassurance, in an attempt to let her know that no boundaries had been crossed. But whether Zelda understood or not Samus was not sure. She had no time to think on it though, and she turned to jump off her ship to join the soldiers.

Zelda watched as her escort left to babysit someone else this time. When Samus and the Federation soldiers were out of sight, she stepped onto the platform and returned to the inside of the ship.

She did not mind that Samus has gone off on another job for a bit. It gave Zelda time to herself. However, she suddenly felt lonely.

It was odd; the hunter never spoke a word to her and only made gestures, and Zelda herself never even tried to goad the hunter into speaking out loud. But somehow, the mere presence of the hunter was good company enough, even without words. But that made even stranger, as the two of them are merely strangers brought together by a client-and-bodyguard scenario.

Perhaps she was still just tired. Zelda decided that she definitely needed sleep if she was thinking this way. A yawn emerged from her again and settled the decision. The young scholar returned to the cabin to get some proper sleep.

* * *

Samus and the small party of four soldiers patrolled a section of Norion. There were other patrols out there but Samus would have to focus on their part of the planet. So far, nothing was amiss and that was always a good day for the lone bounty hunter.

Her primary concern, however, was to her charge who waited in her ship. Though the hunter was certain that no harm would come to the young woman there. As long as she did not wander outside again, so Samus did not dwell on it.

Despite the calm surrounding them, Samus could not help but feel as if something as off. As she looked around, she could not quite put her finger on it. She had learn to trust her instincts most of the times, as they usually never let her down. However, at the moment it was as if she may be worrying about nothing but at the same time she could not stop the nagging feeling.

"Hey, check this out!"

The bounty hunter looked over to the soldier who called out to her and the others. He was crouched down, and seemed to be tracing something on the ground with his fingers.

Samus approached the soldier and looked down at what he was tracing. It seemed to be an imprint on the ground; tracks of some kind. She did not recognize the shape at all and her visor scanned it while the other soldiers went over to take a look at the little discovery, but the hunter's scans suddenly came up empty. Was it a new species?

They did not look familiar, and her databank was full of information regarding the many life-forms she had encountered. So this must be something entirely new.

"What do you think this is? The imprint's kinda deep." The soldier mused, "Must be something heavy, or huge."

Samus looked around and her visor scanned the area. No signs of any hostile life, but she was not going to take any chances now. Those tracks were either from something new to the planet or some sort of evolved species of the local wildlife.

One of the soldiers began scouting ahead for several minutes before returning. He shook his head when Samus and the others looked at him. "No signs of anything moving on up ahead. Maybe whatever it was, it's no longer around or it moved on already."

Samus shook her head and gestured to the soldiers that they should get a move on. However, before anyone of them could head off again, a loud roar sounded off. The loud, booming sound startled the soldiers and the bounty hunter was instantly on her toes.

She readied her arm cannon in anticipation of an attack. She turned to look around and pointed her cannon forward when another roar sounded off. It sounded like the creature was at quite a distance, but its roar was loud enough to be heard from quite a long range.

The scouting party remained vigilant, but nothing came their way.

Finally losing patience, Samus headed off to where the roar was coming from. Whatever it was, it was best that they find it first and deal with it appropriately. If it happens to be a threat then it would have to be eliminated. But if it just happens to be a creature that got turned around, it might be best to just deter it from the Federation base and back to the wilds.

Where was this…thing? And what in the hell was it?

As if answering her silent answer, another roar boomed through the air. It sent the hunter sprinting towards the source, with the Federation soldiers struggling to keep up with the bounty hunter's speed despite the armor she wore.

She did not like the sound of that roar or where it was coming from. She was never one to panic but she could not help but feel worried about the direction the sound was coming from. Samus knew where she was heading and she did not like it one bit.

The closer she got, the louder the roar became, along with new sounds of stomping. They sounded like…hooves? What creature on this planet had hooves?

Finally, Samus reached her destination and her fears had been confirmed. A strange large beast with four legs, hooved feet, the muscular torso of a man, a beastly face with white mane, and horns. The large creature also had to muscular arms and held a weapon in one hand. Its skin was a strange yellow color and it had it had stripes of a darker shade. It was a beast she had never seen the likes of before. Even as she scanned it, it was certainly nothing she ever saw on this planet before, and it stuck out among the other life forms on Norion.

Whatever the case was, the beast was preoccupied with smacking Samus' gunship around, tossing, thrashing, and punching at the vessel aggressively with its large hand.

Samus watched with silent horror as her precious ship was thrown around like it was nothing, and worse, her young charge was still inside! She had told Zelda to stay put but now the one safe place where she kept the young scholar was being threatened and damaged.

Unable to stand by any longer, Samus rushed in at blinding speeds, leaping in the air and punching the lion-man creature with her arm cannon. The beast roared and dropped the ship like an abandoned old toy.

The bounty hunter glared at the beast through her visor and charged at it again, blasting it in the chest with her cannon. The monster snarled and roared angrily at the pain that ran through its body. It lifted its gigantic weapon that seemed to be a sort of metal club or mace, and swung it down towards the armored hunter.

Samus dodged the blow easily, countering with a charged shot into the beast's shoulder.

Enraged the armored hunter's attacks, the lion-man-beast lifted its front hooves, rearing up and unleashing a war cry, thrashing and bucking around in an attempt to damage the swift bounty hunter in some way.

Samus looked over to her damaged ship, feeling worried about her charge. The young Hylian woman might be injured. Glancing over at the beast, she shot another beam at him before making a run for the gunship.

The beast snarled and smacked its fist down in front of the hunter, blocking her path and preventing her from getting anywhere near the gunship. It howled angrily and swiped at the hunter, who easily dodged out of the way.

Samus mentally cursed; the more she delayed and allowed herself to be delayed, the more of a chance that Zelda might be in danger of dying from injuries she would have gained from being thrashed around inside the ship. If she had internal injuries, or even a concussion…

The hunter charged another shot and then sent the blast into the beast's chest again. It did quite a lot of damage, but she had to admit that the beast was rather durable for something that had no ounce of armor or machines on its body.

As the hunter fought the creature, the Federation soldiers finally managed to catch up to her, only to stop in their tracks when they saw the enormous life form that the hunter was confronting. It was nothing that they ever saw before, and they had been stationed on Norion for quite a long time now. They would have noticed such a creature rampaging about.

One of the soldiers shook his head and pointed his firearm at the mystery creature, firing at its torso.

This distracted the beast and it turned its attention to the soldiers who were now all firing at it. It moved away from the bounty hunter and rushed at the armored men, swinging its heavy weapon around with great ease.

Samus knew those soldiers would not last too long against the beast, and she joined the fray, shooting a missile at the beast's lower half, making it shriek then snarl. Its four hooves stomped into the dirt, leaving deep prints behind as it attempted to trample the pests that dared challenge it to a battle. Even the beast could see that the biggest threat to it was the little creature with the rounded shoulders.

With a swipe of its arm, the creature sent the soldiers flying easily before fully focusing on its true adversary. The beast puffed out its chest and inhaled.

Samus looked over to the creature, scanning it with her visor. Her scans showed no useful information, other than the fact that the creature was flesh-and-blood and not some result of a strange mutation or experiment. But that bit of information was of no use when trying to find some sort of weakness to use against this monstrosity.

The beast snarled again and finally exhaled, unleashing a large, deadly blast of flames at the hunter. Samus rolled into her Morph Ball form, rolling under the flames and avoiding getting caught in the inferno.

Uncurling from the Morph Ball, the hunter looked to where her ship had been abandoned and her thoughts were focused on getting the innocent young scholar out of there before she turned into collateral damage. She shot another missile at the creature's face before following up her attack with another charged beam into its chest.

Irritated, the beast roared and stomped its hooves once again before turning and rushing off in another direction. There was no point in wasting its energy on mere mosquitoes after all.

Samus watched as the beast retreated into the forests of Norion, and she had half the mind to run after and destroy it once and for all. However, the hunter stopped upon seeing her ship and worry overtook her again. Hastily, she rushed for the gunship to search for her charge.

As she ran around to the other side to find the entrance of her overturned vessel, she heard a grunt and yelp as she ran into someone and they fell onto their backside.

Zelda groaned as she rammed into what felt like a solid wall, until she looked up and saw that it had been Samus she ran into. Her eyes widened and she stood up, dusting herself off. "I know you told me to stay put. I really was going to listen to you but…"

Samus placed her armored hand on top of the Hylian's head and pat it gently, her visor glowing brightly as she scanned her charge for any sort of damage to her physical being. Thankfully it seemed the only thing that Zelda was about to receive was a light bruise from ramming into Samus' armored body.

"I'm sorry. I know I wasn't supposed to leave the ship again but I heard the roar and…" Zelda looked over at the gunship and winced. "Oh dear."

Samus shook her head. She was just glad that her young charge had not gotten injured by the beast. She pat Zelda's head again in a comforting manner until the young scholar calmed down and relaxed her posture.

"Where did it go? You didn't…obliterate it already, did you?" Zelda asked, looking around before returning her gaze to her armored escort.

Samus shook her head in response and pointed to the direction in which the creature fled. It was still dangerous, and the hunter intended on dealing with the threat before it could cause some sort of chain reaction that would disrupt the recovery of the planet.

"Wait a moment," Zelda said, placing her hand on top of the hunter's arm cannon. "You're going after it, aren't you? I may not be able to see your face, but I can tell by your posture that you plan on hunting it down."

A firm nod from the hunter was all the answer the young scholar needed.

Zelda ran around the bounty hunter and blocked her path before she headed off after the creature. "Do you even know what that thing was? Do you even know what it can do?"

In the corner of her eye, Samus could see the Federation soldiers groaning and getting back up after being smacked away like flies. The hunter then looked at Zelda and pointed a finger at her questioningly. _"Do you?"_

With a sigh Zelda lifted her Sheikah Slate from her side. She tapped on its screen and scrolled along a collection of images before tapping her finger on a particular one. Samus recognized the creature in the image.

"Yes," Zelda said, "I do know what that thing is. It's a creature called a 'Lynel', and I don't think I need to tell you that this creature isn't native to Norion, nor should it be here."

Samus crossed her arms and nodded for her to continue.

Meanwhile, the soldiers approached the pair, still trying to shake off their disorientation from the hard blow, as Zelda explained all she knew about the lynel. The young scholar seemed to have a rather hesitant look on her face.

"These creatures are actually native to the planet, Hylia. Yes…the planet I came from." Zelda admitted and lowered her head slightly.

Beneath her helmet, Samus raised an eyebrow but nodded. If this lynel creature was indeed native to her charge's planet, then she would most certainly have information on it; information Samus didn't have, and it would be more than useful if she knew how to deal with this creature from another planet.

"They're incredibly aggressive towards anything that gets within their space. They are capable of wielding massive weapons and the ability to breathe fire. And simply running you over would be enough to make anyone think twice about confronting them. But I'm sure that you might have seen a sample of it…" Zelda said, taking notice of the area and the evidence of the violent scuffle.

Samus nodded and pointed at the slate.

Zelda blinked. "How to fight them? Well, you can attempt to mount their backs. They will try to buck you off, but if you manage hold on long enough, you can strike them while you're mounted."

The hunter nodded and then pointed at the picture. The creature was exactly the same one she saw, but it looked a little different; the color of its mane and entire body was of a different shade.

"Oh, yes…" Zelda said, swiping the image of the lynel to the side and causing another image to take its place. It looked exactly like the beast Samus fought. "Lynels come in different varieties. The one that attacked was a Golden Lynel. According to some documentations, it is said they were ones silver lynels but transformed after being struck by lightning. So now they are quite resistant to the elements."

Samus nodded in thanks and was about to take off, but stopped when she noticed her ship. It was still overturned.

"I'm sorry about your ship. Again." Zelda apologized and lowered her head. "I truly was going to stay in this time, but then I heard the lynel roar and its hooves were getting closer so I just ran. I didn't go too far though; I tried to track you down, but my Sheikah Slate told me you had gone back here."

Samus nodded in approval; smart girl, this one. She had to admit she was becoming more and more impressed with the way Zelda's mind worked. Even if it did tend to almost give the hunter a heart attack from worry. She had to keep the young scholar in one piece after all.

"We'll have your ship tended to, not to worry." One of the soldiers said.

The other nodded. "We won't be of much other use. That… _thing_ got us all winded."

Of course. The hunter was more durable than most others, even well-trained first class soldiers. Samus turned and headed off, but not before hearing the sound of footsteps behind her. She stopped and sighed before turning around to look at Zelda.

"I can't stay with these soldiers. Besides, they need to tend to your vessel." She said.

The hunter was in no mood to argue, and she was not going to have her charge come along on some deadly beast hunt. She pointed towards her ship and the soldiers but the young scholar refused to budge.

"I know I would probably be safer here, but this is the first time you've ever encountered a lynel, isn't it? I could be of help!" The young scholar argued, frowning up at her silent escort.

Samus lifted her arms up in an exasperated manner, showing she was not eager to bring Zelda along. The Crest was one thing, but this was something else entirely! She was going after this creature that didn't even belong on this planet, and it was aggressive and dangerous. Zelda may be helpful in providing the information the hunter needed, but there was no way in hell Samus was going to allow the young Hylian woman to willingly run out into the fray when she may end up getting caught in the crossfire.

Zelda straightened. "I am going with you!"

In response, Samus stepped closer towards her, showing her full height and towering over the young woman. Zelda felt quite intimidated now but she stood her ground and kept her eyes on the bright green T-shaped visor. The bounty hunter glared down at her through her visor and pointed towards the ship and the soldiers who were now calling for backup in order to tend to the hunter's vessel.

"Please. I'm the only one here who knows about these creatures; I'm not doing this because I want to study the situation! I want to help! That thing came from my home planet and it shouldn't be here!" Zelda reasoned.

Why was she so insistent about this? It had nothing to do with her, even if the lynel did come from her planet and somehow made it to Norion. This was not something a teenager like her should get into; quick-minded and quick-witted or not.

"Listen, I can guess what you're thinking. But look, I am certain that if I stay here, I will no doubt be questioned just because I know about the lynel, and because I came from the same planet as it did. Let's just that I predict that the military will probably try accuse me of something due to the coincidental situation." The young scholar said, crossing her arms and frowning.

The hunter did not budge and Zelda sighed in exasperation.

"I just have…trust issues with authority figures. Let's just leave it at that," The young scholar looked away.

Samus raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant and why. However, she could not deny that she too had never been good with authority figures; though this was different. Zelda wasn't even a trained warrior. She was just a regular intelligent teenager and student of the academy in Daiban. While her little feats had been rather surprising and impressive so far, it did not mean her luck would last.

No matter how stubborn Zelda was going to be, Samus refused to let her come along. She turned and headed off to go after the gold lynel, leaving the young scholar behind with the Federation soldiers.

* * *

Zelda watched in dismay as her escort just left her in the dust.

While she did not wish to get into a fight with a lynel of all things—and one that should not even be here—she did not like the prospect of being babysat by Federation officials. She felt tensed and apprehensive, even if they did their best to be polite, reassuring her that all would be fine, especially once they had performed maintenance on Samus' gunship.

The young scholar frowned as she was escorted to the Federation base stationed on the planet. She could not help but feel quite suffocated.

True she was much safer this way, and by now she knew Samus was a veteran warrior and bounty hunter, but Zelda could not stop herself from feeling anxiety as it seemed into her being. She did not like waiting like this when she was certain that this time she could be purposefully useful. While she was not doubting or questioning her escort's abilities—as she had seen it firsthand back at the Crest—the young scholar knew she had the information needed for Samus to properly fight the lynel.

"Not to worry, ma'am. Things will get settled soon. Once we have Samus' ship back in perfect condition, you may return to your duties." A soldier reassured politely.

Zelda nodded in thanks but she still did not like the fact that she had been left here like this. Instead she decided to focus on her research, to take her mind off things. At least her mind would not be focused on the fact that a creature from her home planet had somehow invaded the soil of Norion.

The soldiers kept reassuring her that Samus Aran was a professional and that the hunter had done more deadly jobs than any other bounty ever did; more times than anyone could bother to count.

Of course, the young scholar resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was not naïve; she knew all of these factors already and she had seen a good demonstration of it, and she could tell by the heavily-armored and deadly appearance of her escort that she was more than just some professional.

By this point, Zelda's thoughts were just going around in a circle; repeating over and over the very same things in her head. No matter how hard she focused on her work. In the end, the Hylian woman only found herself pacing back and forth, hoping her escort would return safely.

It may seem odd to worry about someone who she barely knew and whose job it is to guard her. But Zelda always hated not being of any help, regardless. But at the moment, she most likely had no other choice.

* * *

Samus had tracked the beast down easily enough, especially when its heavy footfalls left deep impressions on the ground. Its roars and loud stomping of hooves also helped lead the hunter to her target.

Upon finally confronting the foreign beast, Samus kept in mind what she had been told. If she could mount the creature's back and damage it as much as possible, she may be able to take it down. Perhaps a plasma beam, a missile or two into its back would do the lynel in.

The beast snarled and swung its weapon in Samus' direction. She easily dodged and shot the lynel in the face in return. Now she just had to find the perfect opening to get onto its back while making sure she took less damage as possible, though she knew her armor could take hits harder than whatever the lynel could dish out. It was better safe than sorry, at least.

She aimed her cannon at the beast, standing her ground and showing no fear to this intruder. After she takes the lynel out, she would have to investigate how it even came to Norion in the first place. While the creature showed some form of sentience, Samus doubted such a brute could commandeer a ship and travel all the way to another planet.

The lynel inhaled and Samus jumped to the side as it unleashed its flaming breath. However, the creature was more frantic and followed up with a charge towards the hunter, swinging its weapon around.

It was clear that it had no intention of letting Samus get anywhere near it; its attacks and flailing about kept the armored hunter at bay, making it slightly more difficult for her to find an opening.

Samus rushed at the lynel before quickly curling into her Morph Ball form, avoiding the attacks aimed at her body. She easily rolled under the flames and high swipes, finally getting up close to the lynel. The Morph Ball circled around the rampaging creature until she managed to get behind it.

The hunter uncurled from the Morph Ball and jumped, making sure to land on the lynel's back. The beast roared loudly, making it feel as if the earth was rumbling, and began bucking violently in an attempt to throw its foe off its back. Samus held on and pressed her arm cannon against the lynel's spine. She fired and the creature arched in pain and began to move even more frantically than ever.

It seemed to be getting weaker if it was acting in such a way. Good, it meant she was much closer to finishing it off before it could do anymore damage.

Another roar escaped the beast as it charged at Samus once again at great speeds. Its large hooves thundered and its roars pierced the air. The lynel was going for the kill and wanted the hunter's blood to finally rid itself of the puny menace.

Samus rushed forward and jumped, flying high over the lion-centaur beast's head. She curled her body to perform somersault, only to feel herself freeze when a gigantic hand grabbed one of her legs and slammed her down onto the ground, hard.

The lynel bellowed at her, keeping its grip on her leg. Before Samus could take aim, the creature lifted her up by the leg and began slamming her into the ground repeatedly, like a ragdoll. Samus grunted as she was harshly bashed into every solid surface available to the lynel.

She struggled to aim her arm cannon, but it was proving to be a bit of a struggle as she was rapidly being swung around. Her armor absorbed most of the impact, but the hunter was soon feeling the aches and pains; she needed to get out of the beast's grasp and finish it off now.

When the lynel lifted her up over its head, Samus aimed at the top of its head and fired. The blast caught the beast off guard when it felt the sudden pain, and it dropped Samus who easily landed on her feet.

The lynel reared, intending to stomp and trample on the hunter with its giant hooves. Samus quickly rolled out of the way but the beast followed her, continuously stomping on the ground like an earthquake given flesh.

Samus released a quick blast from her cannon, shooting it in the face, causing the lynel to stop short from stomping again and put a large hand to its face, trying to ease its own pain from the blast. While it was distracted, the hunter aimed again and charged her next shot this time. One more powerful plasma blast should do the trick.

The lynel took notice of this and leapt at her, reaching out to stop its armored foe from firing another attack.

As the beast closed in on her again, the bounty hunter braced herself while also getting ready to release the blast from her cannon. But as the lynel's were just an inch from her visor, everything seemed to stop. Or rather, the beast had stopped.

Samus saw the beast's body seem to glow with a strange golden aura, but it was a different shade from the beast's own golden skin. The lynel had stopped moving and was just frozen in mid-strike. The hunter then noticed large golden chains attaching themselves to the creature, but as quickly as they had come, the chains disappeared.

That was when the hunter noticed something in her peripheral vision, and she whirled around, and found the source of the chains. Zelda stood there, her hand holding up her Sheikah Slate. Her eyes were wide as she stared back at Samus.

"Shoot! Quickly! Stasis doesn't last—" Before the scholar could finish her words, she noticed the golden aura around the lynel begin to blink before it started to fade and the beast was once again free to move.

Samus looked back at the lynel and somersaulted over the beast, her cannon still charging up. When she managed to get behind the creature, she finally released the charge that she had been holding back until she had the perfect shot. On the side, Zelda watched as a powerful blast of plasma burned through the lynel; its torso was seared badly and the beast's powerful horse legs gave way underneath it as it slumped over, unmoving.

Cautiously, the hunter moved closer to the lynel to make sure it was actually dead. She kept her arm cannon aimed at it as she inspected the body. She tapped the tip of her metal boot against the lynel's hoof. There was no reaction.

The lynel began moving forward and Samus stepped back, getting ready to fire again, but the beast crashed down into the ground, still lifeless. The hunter exhaled and allowed herself relaxed.

Sensing that the danger had passed, Zelda approached her escort. She rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish when Samus turned to face her. She could sense a hint of disapproval from the hunter, again.

"I suppose this counts as the second time I've refused to listen to you…" Zelda said. Samus raised a brow behind her visor and Zelda sensed it. "I had every intention of staying in your ship a while ago! I just left it because I heard something big and loud approaching! What did you expect me to do? Wait inside and be tossed around like a piece of…!"

Samus placed her armored hand over the scholar's mouth and shook her head before taking her hand off. Zelda narrowed her eyes up at the hunter in response but said nothing else.

The two looked over at the dead lynel and Zelda carefully approached the corpse, lifting her slate and pointing the eye towards it. The device scanned the dead beast and Samus watched as her charge's expression turned into a rather confused one.

"Strange. I had theorized to myself that this lynel might have somehow been a mutated creature, or that perhaps it might have been infected with something and that might have caused it to find a way off its home planet and end up here. But according to the scans…this lynel was completely healthy and was just an ordinary Golden Lynel." Zelda said, sensing the hunter's visor staring at her.

Samus looked at the corpse again and scanned the beast again. She received the same result. The lynel had no foreign bodies inside of it.

"But that begs the question: how did it get here and why is it here? And on a planet far from where it originated." Zelda mused to herself.

The hunter placed her hand on her hip as she thought on it as well. But for now, she would have to bring her young charge back to safety and check on her gunship. Samus turned to Zelda then and pointed to the other direction, hinting that they should get back to the Federation base now.

Zelda sighed and nodded, strapping her slate to her side as she followed the hunter back while the hunter tapped on her arm cannon, sending a message that the foreign threat has been dealt with.

The pair remained silent as they made their way to the Federation base and Samus cast glances over at Zelda who seemed to be doing well enough, though still had that puzzled expression on her face. The young scholar was clearly thinking and theorizing as they walked, but the hunter did not stop her from doing so, unless Zelda would walk off track while in a trance.

As soon as they finally arrived close to the base, a looming form rose into the air before their eyes.

Samus tensed and took a battle stance in front of Zelda just as a space pirate ship rose into the air, clearing having been hiding from everyone's sight until the ones inside the vessel found the perfect moment to strike.

However, instead of starting a raid or blasting at the Federation base, the space pirate vessel continued to rise and took off, leaving the planet altogether, much to Samus' confusion.

Zelda looked up at her escort, then towards the sky where the ship had been just mere moments before. It had happened so suddenly and out of nowhere that it left behind only questions, especially for Samus, who Zelda took note of; the hunter's body language indicated to her that she was just as befuddled by the space pirates actually _not_ attacking.

Rather than standing by, Samus placed her hand on Zelda's shoulder and continued to guide the young Hylian back to safety.

Only when they were both inside the base did Samus allowed herself to calm down and let Zelda wander around a bit.

The young scholar watched as her escort approached a soldier who seemed to understand the hunter would want to see her ship to make sure it was back in commission and already had maintenance performed on it.

Zelda sighed as she took a seat nearby and contemplating on the day's events. Everything had been going by at a pace that felt like hyper-speed to the young scholar. It seemed to be one thing after another, and just when things seemed to be calm, another incident occurs. Was it just bad luck or was it due to her escort?

The young scholar shook her head. She could not, and would not blame such occurrences on Samus. Obviously the hunter had no control over what happens as much as anyone else. This was all circumstantial and she and Samus just happen to have terrible luck by having incidents run into them.

After all, space pirates were unpredictable and popped up anywhere, wherever and whenever they pleased, if it meant there was something for them to plunder and kill for. Zelda may not be an expert on such things, but she at least knew the basics. Besides, such deadly threats were for ones like Samus to handle, not students like her.

It still bothered her, however, and Zelda could see that her assigned escort was somebody of importance to the Federation to an extent. Even from a distance, the young Hylian noticed the way Federation members interacted with the hunter and her pointed ears allowed her to hear a bit more than regular ears could ever pick up at a distance. She heard murmurs of the name 'Samus Aran' while she walked down the halls of the academy; and her professors, as well as Commander Malkovich did tell her she would be assigned with the best of the best to reassure her. As if they had been speaking of some sort of legend. At least, on the professors' and fellow students' part when speaking of the hunter. Malkovich on the other hand, had a sense of respect in him when mentioning Samus.

While at times she did wonder who she truly did end up being protected by, Zelda still found herself feeling safe and comfortable enough with Samus.

The hunter had displayed impressive power, strength and durability. No doubt thanks to the armor, and it reminded the young scholar of how reluctant Samus was in sharing some of the armor's capabilities, and when she noticed the hunter's body language showing reluctance, Zelda had reassured the hunter that she would not reveal anything to anyone. Not that she could since the armor was strange and advanced and powerful. But Zelda had nothing to gain from spilling any secrets.

Who and what, was Samus exactly? All she knew was the fact that her escort was clearly a veteran bounty hunter who'd dealt with the pirates on perhaps a daily basis. Aside from that, and from what she saw of the hunter so far, Zelda can only assume or speculate. But that would take her nowhere. And it would not be right to do so; the hunter had been rather nice to her, allowing Zelda to use the sleeping quarters as a makeshift workspace, eat the hunter's food, and even going so far as to listen to Zelda's ramblings.

And if that incident on the Crest was anything to go by, Zelda knew she had caught a glimpse of a gentler side when she witnessed Samus confronting the little boy who had been held hostage. The hunter also seemed rather melancholy but the young scholar knew it was none of her business despite her natural curiosity nagging at her at times.

She had no right to pry into the hunter's life, no matter how fascinated she gets from whatever she witnesses. As long as nothing seedy happened, Zelda had no intention of plotting anything. But, again, Samus never gave the young scholar any reason to feel uncomfortable or scared. And for a bounty hunter, not once did the scholar see Samus request for or discuss payment. She knew that her escort would get paid for bringing her to the assigned planets for the study, but aside from that, nothing.

It was rather odd since everybody knew how bounty hunters worked. But Samus had to be the noblest one Zelda had ever encountered. Unless Samus had no idea how bounty hunting worked; but that was very unlikely. Even someone like her had to scrape by somehow.

A tap on her shoulder brought Zelda out of her musings and she nearly jumped, but relaxed when she saw that it was just the hunter, looking at her and giving the young scholar a head tilt in question.

"I'm sorry. I got lost in my thoughts again; I can't seem to stop thinking, it seems." She admitted sheepishly.

Samus just nodded in response.

The hunter had gone to make sure her ship was still in good condition, and in the meantime, the soldiers had nearly kicked up a fuss that Zelda had somehow managed to outwit them in order to escape outside to find the lynel.

Samus was unsure how a teenager managed to outsmart a bunch of trained soldiers, but thinking back on Zelda's demonstrated intelligence and quick thinking, and the multipurpose device she carried with her, it became rather easy for the hunter to believe.

Among all the kinds of people she had to be bodyguard to, Zelda was the most odd. While the hunter did meet and team up with resourceful types before, Zelda seemed to be the most unassuming of them all. She was just a young student on her way to becoming a full-fledged scientist and she knew nothing about the dangers of what lies outside her comfort zone. But now she had experienced crushing a space pirate to death, and stepped into the fray with a lynel and freezing it in time for a few seconds.

Clearly, this girl was getting more than she bargained for. And once more, Samus wondered what Adam had been thinking in assigning Zelda under her protection. And yet, she could not blame Adam for these incidents. Nobody could predict incidents or see through time. Neither of them could have counted on the incident of the Crest happening, nor the lynel appearing on a planet it shouldn't been in. And then, there was the ship belonging to space pirates retreating from Norion.

The soldiers at the base had noticed this oddity as well, though confused as well, they did not seem to have any intention of investigating anytime soon, as the pirates did nothing but flee.

Despite this, the hunter planned on tracking those pirates down and finding out what they were doing on Norion. Their strange retreat only made it all the more clear that something was off. Perhaps… Had the wayward lynel been a part of it? It seemed too perfect of a timing to be coincidental.

"Samus?"

The hunter blinked and turned upon hearing her name. She found Zelda looking up at her. Samus sighed and pointed to where her ship was being held. She herself had yet to see if her beloved vessel was still functioning with no major damage.

Zelda nodded. "I know. I'm sorry about your ship, but…if there is any damage I might be able to help you fix it…?"

The offer surprised the hunter a bit. While she did intend of fixing up any unnoticed damages on her ship, she didn't think Zelda would know much about ship repairs; brilliant mind or not. Though it seemed the young scholar had good intentions. Perhaps she could help by scanning the ship for anything they might have missed. It might be of some help and there surely would be no harm to it.

Finally deciding on it, Samus nodded in agreement and headed to the hangar of the base, where the gunship would be waiting. Zelda followed close behind.

* * *

 **I'm glad that I finally managed to finish this chapter after going slow with working on it. Also this is the longest chapter I've ever written I think. I've been out of the country for a month and so it prevented me from working on the chapter, so I apologize for those who had been waiting for so long.**

 **So it seems that, already, Samus can't catch a break and Zelda just happens to be along for the unexpected ride. All the girl wants to do is study. Despite being rather stubborn it seems.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for taking your time to read it! Stay awesome!**

 **Until then…**


	4. Chapter 4: Circumstance

**Chapter 4: Circumstance**

Zelda sat on the large, heavy toolbox with her arms crossed and her lips set in a frown. She watched as Samus tinkered around with her ship, fixing the damages that had been left unchecked.

"You really just want to have me here to scan your ship to monitor its condition?" She asked the hunter who was rather busy with the ship. When she received no response, Zelda sighed and rolled her eyes.

Samus was rather preoccupied with working on the ship at that the moment, so it left the young scholar alone with her thoughts. With a defeated shy, Zelda took the Sheikah Slat from her side and kept herself busy as well with the device. She scrolled through the pictures she took up until recently. As she swiped through each image, a good chunk of them being added into her compendium and therefore, adding much more needed information.

When she swiped again, the image she landed on was a picture she had taken of Samus not too long ago. Zelda sighed and glanced over at the armored hunter who had been the subject of her picture. Still, Samus remained busy with repairs, not even bothering to ask for any assistance despite allowing Zelda to tag along.

It appeared all the hunter really needed was someone to be the lookout for anything that might show signs the gunship was not was in perfect condition as it seemed.

Rolling her eyes, Zelda looked back at the image displayed on the screen of her Sheikah Slate. She could easily tell that if she added her mysterious escort to the compendium, the only information she would get was how there would be not much known about the hunter.

The young scholar groaned, feeling bored. She slid downwards until she was able to flatten her back down on the large toolbox she said on.

"Wouldn't it be easier to work if one of your hands wasn't a cannon?" She said as she watched Samus work with the one armored hand that, while the arm cannon remained back but sometimes it lend assistance.

Again, she received no response. Only the sound of tinkering and clanking kept her company while her escort repaired the damages to her vessel.

"… You know, I can't seem to get that lynel out of my mind. Back home, though they weren't commonly seen wandering about, I have seen one. At least once. But it was a rather rare occasion." Zelda tried again, still looked over at Samus, viewing the hunter while upside down.

Samus did not respond, still tinkering around.

A frown formed on Zelda's lips and she got up, narrowing her eyes at the hunter. The young woman looked around and picked up a small wrench and tossed it at the hunter. The tool struck the armored torso with a _clank_ and landed on the floor.

Samus looked away from her work and glared at her charge through her visor.

Zelda glared back. "Don't look at me like that!" She said, surprising Samus, "I'm trying to have a proper discussion here! Aren't you concerned about what happened today? A creature from a planet nowhere near Norion somehow got here, and then the Space Pirates appearing yet doing _nothing_?"

The hunter slid out from under her ship and strode over to her charge, towering over Zelda easily, but the young scholar stood her ground and just craned her neck up to look right at the hunter's visor.

Samus sighed in exasperation and pointed a stern finger at Zelda. _Of course_ she was concerned! In fact she had not stopped thinking about it ever since the incidents occurred! After all, that was Samus' job and her duty. She hunted space pirates and she protected the galaxy from any threats; just as the Chozo who raised her had told her when she had been younger. And she despised the Space Pirates more than anything else; of course she'd hunt them down.

"The Federation…I heard the soldiers say they can't really do much about it since nothing happened and the pirates didn't attack. How could they possibly think that, especially after encountering a creature that is not part of Norion's ecosystem? Do they only think it circumstantial?" Zelda exclaimed, beginning to pace as she ranted on.

Samus crossed her arms as she watched as her charge walked back and forth while muttering to herself. Before Zelda could burst a blood vessel with all the thinking, the hunter pressed a finger to the scholar's forehead in order to make her pause.

It was none of her concern after all, so the hunter could not afford to let her get involved too deeply. Though perhaps it was only natural, as Zelda seemed to be the sort of let her mind work if something big comes up. Samus would not allow this science student to pave way to her own early grave. After all, curiosity can kill.

"I can't help it," Zelda said after a pregnant pause.

Samus blinked and tilted her head in question at the Hylian.

Zelda sighed and went to sit on the toolbox again. "I can't help but think. Speculate. I can never resist theorizing, especially if it's something of importance. Not because I'm foolhardy, but because it is how I am."

Samus watched her charge for a moment then placed her armored hand on her hip. Zelda seemed to apologize quite often. And while the young scholar had done quite some reckless, yet impressive feats ever since Samus started this mission, there was not really anything she should be apologizing for. The only way this could end well is if Zelda didn't try to assist the hunter in finding answers; it was much safer that way.

Zelda glanced up at the hunter who was still staring in her direction. "What?"

Samus knelt down before her and gently pressed a finger to Zelda's forehead. Glowing green visor met with bright, inquisitive green eyes. Another long silence followed as the duo tried to make heads or tails of each other as they made some sort of eye contact, as Samus looked at Zelda through her visor.

Before she could realize what she was doing, Zelda lifted a hand and touched the side of the helmet. Her eyes were so curious and were eyeing the hunter's helmet, trying to understand as she ran her fingerless-gloved hand along hunter's concealed face; her bare fingers the only ones to feel the strong material of the helmet.

Samus remained still, not feeling threatened or offended. Instead she felt oddly calm and perhaps a bit curious herself. Here was this person she was assigned to guard and escort, then return safely. But within just the couple of days the hunter had her in her care, a number of things have happened.

She had been observing her charge since the first meeting and there was something about her curiosity and need to think and find answers to be rather endearing. The way Zelda's eyes seemed to sparkle when she was learning something new.

While it should be nothing new, as Samus dealt with scientist types before, with Zelda it felt different. And new. Perhaps because she seemed to be a genuine person, who only wanted to learn because she enjoyed knowledge and learning something new every time rather than using it to heighten the hubris of mankind.

Right now, Zelda's curious touches on Samus' helmet and fingers carefully running along the T-shaped visor just seemed to spark a memory in the hunter's head. When she had once been a curious child; oblivious and ignorant to the dangers of the world, blissfully innocent until the incident.

When the hunter tensed, the young scholar hastily pulled her hand away and seemed to snap her out of her haze of inquisitiveness.

"I'm sorry! That was highly inappropriate of me!" Zelda mentally berated herself. What had she been thinking, just touching someone like that! It did not matter that her escort was encased in armor, it was more than rude—it was just plain uncomfortable and sketchy—to just _touch_ someone's person like she did. The last thing she wanted to do was make the hunter think that Zelda was seeing their close contact as something to be studied and observed for scientific reasons.

That could not be further from the opposite. There was just something so strange and almost… _mystical_ about her assigned bodyguard. The entire universe contained many things; from curiosities and both new and as old as time, and the world kept changing and developing for better or for worse. Their whole world was something strange itself. But Samus, despite piecing together that the hunter was someone known to a certain percentage of the populace, Zelda felt… _something_. It made her curious.

Samus shook her head, quickly pushing away the dark thoughts from her mind before they incapacitated her. She then turned her attention back to Zelda who was now looking away and had her hands folded on her lap, clearly keeping her hands to herself to avoid doing something rude again.

Rather than react in any sort of negative way, Samus felt nothing of the sort. In fact she had allowed it despite herself. Carefully, gently, she placed her armored hand on top of Zelda's. To her surprise, however, the young scholar suddenly recoiled, holding her hands close to her chest, and looked up at the hunter with a straight face. However, despite the deceptively calm expression, the hunter could see Zelda's eyes were filled with worry and anxiety. As if the young scholar was expecting Samus to strike her.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have… I won't do it again!" Zelda said. She tried to sound calm but her voice had an underlying panic in tone. Something she tried to hide, but failed.

This was a situation that Samus had never encountered before; it was clear her charge was in some sort of distress and she was not sure why or what to do. Zelda remained tensed and her pose didn't change for a while. The hunter moved back a bit to give her some space, and then glanced around. She had no idea how to properly calm a panicked individual.

Finally, Samus' eyes landed on her ship. She look back and forth between her beloved vessel, and Zelda for a moment before she reached over and gently touched the Hylian's shoulder. When Zelda looked up at her, the hunter pointed to her ship and tilted her head.

"… You want me to assist with the ship?" Zelda sounded a bit surprised.

Samus nodded in response and it seemed to take her charge's mind off things; Zelda got up immediately and went to inspect the vessel, using her Sheikah Slate to assist her before finding some form of damage and not hesitating to grab the tools in order to deal with it.

She looked surprisingly adept at it; the bounty hunter could tell by the way the Hylian moved that she had most likely tinkered around with vehicles, and devices and not just her Sheikah Slate. Now it seemed as if her panicked moment never happened, with the way Zelda busied herself and had such a determined look on her face.

Samus joined her under the ship, tapping her shoulder gently in silent communication. The young scholar nodded and moved aside to let the hunter inspect the progress so far.

So far, so good. Perhaps it would do some good for them both if they cooperated on the repairs after all; it would hasten the progress on the ship and it would get the young scholar's mind off of whatever it was that was bothering her.

* * *

"It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to make repairs like that. Thank you for letting me help, Samus." Zelda said as she and the hunter took a break to indulge on soda that Samus had retrieved from her ship. Or rather, Zelda indulged while Samus just held her own can of soda in her one armored hand.

Fortunately for them, the tossing around the lynel had done with the ship had not affected the soda and so the pair managed to open their cans without any sweet fizzy liquid spraying all over them. It had been a while since Samus had a can of soda. She was even gladder now that she had grabbed some cans beforehand and stocked then in her fridge.

Zelda cleared her throat. "Not to be rude or anything… But are you just going to sit there while holding your soda, without drinking it?"

Realizing that she had been doing just that, Samus hastily lifted her soda and tipped it over in order to drink it. Only to forget that her face was concealed by her helmet, resulting in Samus spilling her soda onto her visor and armor, much to her own embarrassment and dismay.

Zelda's eyes widened and she shot up, digging into her pocket to retrieve a handkerchief in order to wipe the mess from her escort's armor. "Goodness! Are you alright?"

The bounty hunter felt like hitting her head against the nearest wall or hitting her own cannon against the top of her head for making such a silly mess-up. What was wrong with her? She had a panicked when Zelda pointed out that Samus had not even attempted to drink her beverage, as she had only been holding it. Something of a 'human habit' one might call it. But did she even react? The more she thought about it, the sillier she began to feel.

Shaking her head, Zelda proceeded to clean the little mess.

"Hopefully your armor won't get too sticky from all that soda," She said, not seeming to mind—or notice for that matter—that her escort had just jumped and reacted a little oddly.

Samus watched as the young woman she had been assigned to protect, carefully and meticulously cleaned the chest piece of Samus' armor, and her very own handkerchief. The hunter felt that she should stop her and prevent her from ruining such a nice handkerchief, but for some reason, Samus only stood there and watched.

This was strange, this had never happened before in all her years as a bounty hunter and yet here she was. But why? What made Zelda like everyone else she'd had to escort, and yet so damn _different_? She was just another individual for her to protect and bring back in one piece, right?

"I'm not sure how you perform maintenance on your suit, but I think I managed to wipe it down well enough." Zelda said, looking up at the T-shaped visor.

Samus gently clasped her armored hand around Zelda's, stopping her from doing anymore wiping-down. Once again, the hunter's gentle grip surprised the young scholar. The armor the hunter wore was just so intimidating, bulky, and had this powerful presence. Yet when Samus would make physical contact, Zelda felt none of the weight or heavy-handedness she expected from someone who seems to constantly wear armor. She was unsure how Samus managed to be so light and gentle with her touches. But it felt nice nonetheless. It felt…safe.

Samus took the handkerchief from the Hylian's hand and looked at it with a frown. It was slightly brown now from the soda. The hunter felt slightly guilty for letting her charge ruin such a nice-looking piece of cloth. It looked so smooth and soft, now it was all wet and sticky and a little stiff.

"It's just a handkerchief, no need to look so solemn." Zelda said with a small reassuring smile. "It can always be washed, or I can get a new one. I doubt you can do the same for your armor though."

Samus shook her head; her armor had gone through much worse than some soda spill. It would be pointless to just mess a piece of cloth up just to clean it off. Zelda seemed to sense this was what the hunter wanted to convey. The young Hylian woman just shrugged in response.

It suddenly occurred to the hunter that Zelda didn't question her as to why she suddenly spilled her drink in the first place. Wouldn't that be the most reasonable and obvious thing to do? She stared at the young scholar in confusion.

Zelda seemed to sense it. "What's wrong?"

Samus shook her head and waved her off before looking back at the ship. It seemed to be in better condition now, and all that remained was the final planet on Zelda's list of field studies. After this, they would finally part ways.

The young scholar took her Sheikah Slate from her side and stared at the screen for a moment. The image of an eye greeted her as the device came out of its Rest Mode, as if sensing its master's need for its use once again.

"We're almost done, it seems…" Zelda said after a bit of silence.

Samus only nodded in agreement.

"What do you think you'll do after this? Aside from the obvious, I mean. I know that being a bounty hunter means you would be needed elsewhere at some point, but…" The young scholar looked up at the visor.

She had idea; after parting ways with Zelda, Samus knew she would likely track down the space pirate ship that had fled from Norion, find out just what they were plotting, and hopefully figure out if it had been more than a mere coincidence that a lynel had come to Norion without any explanation as to how or why. The first step would to be to search for a place to start; perhaps she would have to return to Norion again and search the site of where the space pirate had docked their ship.

Zelda looked at her Sheikah Slate again and exhaled. "So, when can we get going?"

* * *

Neither of them spoke when they finally boarded the gunship once again. After a last minute checkup, Samus was glad to see that her beloved vessel was completely back in perfect shape and wad ready to take off back into space.

Zelda stood in the cockpit with the hunter, watching the armored warrior who sat in the pilot seat. She was unsure why she was just standing around; Samus did not need any kind of assistance and just lollygagging would not get anything done. Still, for some reason, it was as if her feet refused to move. Speaking was out of the question; when she attempted to open her mouth, no words would come out and a part of her felt that it would be pointless to say anything at the moment.

Samus did not seem to mind, or notice her charge just standing there as she got her ship started. It lifted off and turned itself around before it took off out of the docking bay of the Federation base. Once they left the planet's atmosphere, she her vessel on autopilot, and got up from her seat and turned to face her charge. She approached the young scholar and tilted her head slightly.

Once again, it seems that Zelda had drifted off into a dark place again. Samus knew better than anyone, what it was like to have her mind wander and to have it overtaken by things she'd rather never think about again. Seeing her charge having a lost expression on her face, it was clear to the hunter that something was still bothering her. As to what, and why, she had no idea. Still, the hunter could not leave the young scholar in such a state.

Carefully, gently, Samus touched her shoulder and Zelda tensed for a moment before realizing that Samus was only merely trying to convey something.

"Sorry. I…got lost in thought. I'm usually aware of my surroundings." She said sheepishly.

Something inside Samus told her that it was not true. Zelda was clearly not just drifting off into a daydream; she had been too silent since their last chat, after Samus had spilled soda on herself. The hunter was tempted to scan her charge but she stopped herself. There was a look in Zelda's eyes that Samus felt was all too familiar.

As the hunter contemplated on how to bring her charge's eagerness back, her own thoughts seemed to drift.

She could see a familiar face. Old and wise, yet gentle and warm; the features of the face was very much…avian. She remembered the smiles, the strange hand, much larger than her own. The way it held her hand reassuringly and how the finger of that strange hand would stroke the back of her smaller hand in a way to calm and reassure her.

" _Old Bird…"_

Samus could not help but allow a small smile to appear on her lips as she thought of the old Chozo who had first befriended her as a child, and became the one who raised her, along with other Chozo. Until now she could still recall the way Old Bird would try to soothe her worries when she had been very young. The memory came back to her again and the hunter looked back at her charge.

Zelda gasped when she felt the hunter gently take her hand. Suddenly, the arm cannon dematerialized, turning into another armored hand, identical to the left one. Before she could question her escort about it, she felt a gentle pressure on the back of her hand.

Samus gently rubbed her thumb in circles on top of Zelda's hand. The gesture was the very same that Old Bird would for her when she had been a child who was afraid and unsure of her new surroundings; a child who had lost everything but was being kept safe, and cared for.

"… You didn't have to do that," The young scholar murmured as she lowered her head.

Samus continued to rub her thumb against Zelda's hand until she was certain that her young companion was no longer feeling down. Something inside her just wanted to see Zelda smile again; someone with such a youthful and free spirit shouldn't look and feel as if she had the weight of the universe on her shoulders.

The feeling was strange to Zelda, but it was in no way unpleasant. Just strange and unexpected, but not bad. It had caught her off guard that this powerful-looking bounty hunter had decided to just give her some form of comfort. Not because Samus knew what was going on, but because the hunter just wanted to make her feel better.

This was definitely not something a bounty hunter would ever do, and yet this one is.

"Thank you, Samus. I'm fine, really. I just sometimes tend to…think gloomy thoughts; there's nothing to worry about. Nothing you had to concern yourself with in the first place," The young scholar said softly, in a rather apologetic tone.

Samus did not believe that, but there was nothing she could do about it. And it was still none of her business, but she felt that she would be damned if she didn't at least keep that smile on that determined, youthful face.

"You're a _very_ odd bounty hunter, do you realize that?" Zelda asked, her tone not at all rude or condescending. She was genuinely surprised and perhaps a little puzzled. After all, bounty hunters don't act like Samus does.

In response, the hunter just shrugged nonchalantly and continued her comforting gesture until she sensed the tension was gone from her charge. A small giggle emerged from Zelda, making the hunter stop and tilt her head.

"And here I thought bounty hunters only do what they're told for the right price." In a way, that was true. But it was becoming clearer and clearer that Samus Aran was not like most other bounty hunters. Zelda was beginning to see that, and not for the first time since they met, she was thankful. Truly thankful. The young scholar flushed slightly; this field study had turned out to be more…exciting than it was supposed to be.

Sensing that everything was all right again, Samus stepped back and let go of the Hylian's hand. Now, it was time to head to the last assigned planet and the hunter could safely return her to Daiban and the academy.

"When was the last time you slept, by the way? Since we left Daiban, I haven't seen you sleep." Zelda said.

Samus shrugged again. Sometimes she just found it difficult to close her eyes and lie still. Sometimes sleep eluded her entirely; and even if she managed to enjoy the luxury of sleep, memories tended to haunt her, disrupting her slumber and leaving her to remain awake for the rest of the night and day. It was a tiring cycle that never seemed to end.

A frown formed on the Hylian's lips. "… You haven't, have you?"

The hunter shook her head in response. No point denying it. Not that it would matter if she denied not getting any sleep or not. However, she did not expect the rather stern look coming from her young charge.

"You need to sleep! You've been awake for… _days_ now! I know it's your job to look after my well-being for now, but it would not do you any good if you suddenly collapsed in the middle of the field! And I certainly doubt I would be able to even drag you back to your ship if that happens!" The young scholar scolded.

The sudden change in demeanor had taken the hunter aback for a moment. The last thing she'd expect was for her charge to scold her about getting a proper good night's sleep. It was rather amusing to the hunter, who stood tall and towered over the young woman who was but a teenager who had yet to properly get out into the world and see it for what it was.

Zelda stood straight and craned her head back slightly to look at the tall warrior. "Don't chuckle! You can just leave your ship in autopilot and let it take us to our next destination while you regain your strength.

Samus could not really see the point in her getting any sleep. But the look on the young Hylian woman's face, the hunter was certain that Zelda was not going to leave the topic alone unless she did get some sleep. At the very least, Samus could take the time to lie down and relax a bit before they get to the final assigned planet on the list of field studies.

Finally, the bounty hunter nodded and headed for her cabin; Zelda followed close behind.

Once they were in the room, the young scholar settled on the chair at the desk while the hunter sat on her bed, watching as her charge busied herself with her Sheikah Slate. By the looks of it, it seems that the Hylian was going to be tinkering with the thing for a while.

Zelda glanced over at her escort and raised an eyebrow. "I don't see you resting."

Samus shook her head and poked her finger against Zelda's forehead teasingly in response. The young scholar just rolled her eyes, brushing away the armored hand.

"Don't tell me you plan on getting some sleep…in that."

The hunter stared at her companion for a moment before looking down at her armor. It did not really make any difference to the hunter who merely laid back on her bed like it was nothing, and not a bother to lie down while wearing such bulky-looking armor.

"Your shoulders barely fit that bed of yours." Zelda deadpanned, but her tone sounded rather amused. The scene before her was rather silly; a single-bed was holding up a warrior wearing such a heavy-looking armor with especially rounded shoulders. Samus seemed relaxed now, or as relaxed as a person in such heavy gear could seem.

"Honestly. Do you really just enjoy parading about in your armor constantly without taking it off for a while? Doesn't it weigh down on you after a couple of hours? Or _days_?" Zelda questioned, eyeing the armor.

Samus shook her head. Her armor was a part of her being, and while it did have some weight to it, the warrior woman never felt burdened by the armor she'd inherited from the Chozo who had raised her.

"Well, at any rate, don't try to pretend to rest just because I can't see your face under that helmet." Zelda said, turning in the chair slightly to face her escort and crossed her arms like a mother trying to be stern with a child.

It was a rather endearing sight to Samus. The hunter decided to humor her and laid her whole body back down.

Zelda gave the space warrior a look. "Very funny."

* * *

Of all the places that the academy could have sent their brightest student, they just _had_ to send her to Alinos.

Samus felt a strange urge to punch the face of whoever it was that gave Zelda her assigned planets. The last ones they visited were fine for the most part, save for the fact that they were all planets with threats Samus had to deal with in the past. But to send a _student_ of all things to a volcanic barren wasteland might be taking it a bit too far.

Even Zelda seemed to share the thought with the hunter, as the Hylian took a deep breath and exhaled tiredly. She looked down at her trusty Sheikah Slate that she held in her hand, and the hunter could swear there was a weary look in her eyes. Samus did not blame her in the slightest.

Alinos had once been the home of the alien species, the Alimbics, but now all that was left of their civilization were nothing but crumbling buildings and lava everywhere. Despite that, there were still some living life forms that calls this planet home. Samus had been here once, facing off against other bounty hunters to get to the prize first. This place was not one Samus would visit again, willingly.

Zelda mumbled under her breath as she took a step forward on the grounds of Alinos. "The things you do for a perfect grade. And extra credit…"

Samus could tell that her charge was not exactly enthusiastic about this planet; whether it was due to the heat of the Alinos being a barren volcanic wasteland, or the fact that they might end up running into hostiles yet again, she was not sure. It could be a combination of both factors. But still, this was the final planet and despite the weary expression Zelda was carrying, it was clear she was going to see this through.

The hunter moved closer to the Hylian and placed her armored hand on her shoulder. _"Stay close to me."_

Despite not saying it out loud, Zelda could sense the hunter's intentions and she smiled up at the armored warrior. This entire time, and she still had never seen the true face of her bodyguard. Truthfully, she just did not want to seem rude. If Samus was more comfortable with keeping her face hidden, then it was fine with Zelda. But at the same time, her curious side made her wonder what was hidden behind that visor.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to wonder about her bodyguard's face. Right now, they were on a planet that seemed to have nothing but heat and ruins. And she had to somehow gather worthwhile data from this place.

"Well, let's get this over with. It seems we saved the worst for last…" Zelda said as she took another step forward, though her movements were hesitant.

Samus shook her head and went on ahead, and gestured for the young scholar to follow her. It would probably be best if the hunter took the lead this time, and Zelda would take note of anything that may be of interest to her studies.

Now that she thought on it, the hunter found it quite odd that this current mission had her backtracking to the planets she had been to, and all those planets had been host to certain events in Samus' life. But perhaps it was just a coincidence, or some strange circumstance. Either way, she was determined to get this mission over with and keep Zelda in one piece the entire time.

"There doesn't seem to be much here. I am not entirely sure what I am supposed to look for, if I am to be honest. It just looks like there is nothing here but rock and…fire." Zelda said after the pair had explored their immediate surroundings for a good while.

Samus had to lift Zelda in her arms as they crossed lava rivers with debris floating about to be used as convenient platforms. The heat did not bother the hunter in the slightest, thanks to her armor. But Zelda could feel he sweat form and slide down her forehead and the rest of her body beneath her clothes as they traversed the volcanic wasteland.

The young blonde ran her eyes up and down Samus' armor as she laid there in the hunter's arms. "You're honestly not sweating under that thing?"

A shake of the head was the answer she received as the armored hunter carried her around the lava-filled rooms.

"So it's also resistant to the elements?" Despite the curious question, Zelda felt completely warn out. The terrible heat was not doing the Hylian any favors; she already felt uncomfortable the moment they landed on the planet but the fact that the entire area seemed to have crags and lakes of lava just seemed to drain her of her energy.

Samus frowned when she realized that they would have to move to a less heated spot if Zelda were to actually be able to do anything. Looking around, she made another jump and the hunter landed on the other side of the river of lava and aimed her arm cannon at the door in front of them.

The blast caused the door to slide up and open, allowing the two companions access inside of the next room.

Zelda wiped her forehead from the sweat with the back of her hand, still panting a bit. "I'm sorry. I've been outside before on long hot summer days, but I've never had to work around such intense conditions. Though, the planet I came from does have an area with a volcano. Not that I'd ever gone directly inside and walk on the burning rocks."

Samus nodded in understanding and placed her back down on her feet, but remained close just in case the Hylian suddenly collapsed from a heatstroke.

Once she was standing on her own again, Zelda took the slate from her side and tapped on the screen. The blue glowing eye at the back of the device scanned their surroundings, sending the information and forming a map on the screen.

"Have you been here before, Samus?" The Hylian asked, looking up at her escort and showing her the map displayed on the screen of the Sheikah Slate.

Samus nodded and tapped the screen, indicating another room or area they could go to that would be beneficial to the young woman's field studies. Despite how tired Zelda seemed, she could tell that the Hylian was going to push herself forward to finish the job she had come to do. It was rather admirable, as long as she did not fall into any lava pits or a hive of hostile creatures.

The bounty hunter pointed forward and gestured for Zelda to follow her. The young scholar kept close, tugging at the collar of her shirt, in an attempt to relieve herself of the humidity.

They entered another room after Samus shot at the hatch, earning a surprised and odd look from her charge. It certainly was a rather strange and unconventional way of opening doors, Zelda had to admit. But it seemed to work without causing damage to anything, somehow.

Zelda tapped on the hunter's arm cannon, making the space warrior pause. "Is this how you usually open doors?"

As an answer, Samus lifted her cannon up and nodded, as if it were the most normal thing in the world and Zelda should have known that. This earned the hunter a look of disbelief from her charge. Zelda then shook her head and continued onward, leaving Samus to wonder what she might have done wrong.

Eventually, Samus led her charge over to what looked like an opening in the wall. It looked rather small that neither of them could fit through. The hunter pointed down at the opening, looking at Zelda almost expectantly.

The young scholar blinked. "… What exactly are we looking at?"

Samus pointed at the Sheikah Slate. Zelda raised an eyebrow and looked down at the screen, where the map was still displayed. Upon taking a closer look, the section of the map they were on seemed to cut off a bit. As if there may be a missing section that had not been detected. Was that what this opening was?

When she lifted up the Sheikah Slate, the device began to scan the walls from the ground up. The slate gave out tiny beeps and Zelda looked at the screen again. The missing spot had been filled out. It seemed that there was some sort of secret section.

"I don't suppose you think we can somehow fit through that tiny gap, do you?" Zelda asked, noticing how the hunter was just staring at her; she could sense a hint of smugness emitting from the armored warrior.

Samus pointed at herself and faced the little whole. In an instant, her body curled up and the armored hunter was now a round, metallic ball. Zelda stared, recalling when Samus had demonstrated this odd ability back at Norion. Before she could say anything, the ball, rolled into the gap without any problems.

Soon, the balled up hunter rolled out of sight, now inside whatever crag was to be found on the other side of the hole.

Zelda kept watch over the small gap, waiting for her escort to come back out. Samus' actions of just curling up and rolling into some random hole was not something the scientific-minded Hylian could just register; it felt like the entire situation had turned into some bizarre story.

A bit of movement caught her attention and Zelda nearly jumped back just as the Morphball rolled back out of the hole and uncurled back into the towering form of Samus.

The hunter had her armored hand clenched and presented it to her charge. She unclenched her fist and presented the Hylian with her findings. It seemed to be some sort of tiny device or a chunk of it; the object looked like it could still be of some used if polished and fixed up properly. Though at the moment it was difficult to tell what it was as it was rather dusty and badly damaged.

Zelda took the broken piece of a device and stared up at her escort in disbelief. "You found that while in there? What was in there? Where did you go?"

Samus only chuckled. She was more than used to rolling into her fair share of odd gaps and crags. It was one of the functions of the Morphball after all. However, it was rather entertaining seeing the reactions Zelda had to Samus' antics. Antics that were just normal, everyday moments to Samus herself.

"Nayru, can you analyze and identify this?" Zelda said to her device, pointing the eye at the little device that Samus had given her.

The hunter watched as the eye at the back of the Sheikah Slate did its analysis on the mysterious chunk of a device. Perhaps the Hylian would find use for it, since she did enjoy tinkering around with things.

The slate beeped and Zelda frowned when the results didn't offer much of an answer. "Perhaps more components are needed before Nayru can make complete sense of what this is."

Samus thought on it before nodding. She was used to exploring planets and finding hidden nooks and crannies, along with whatever secret treasures or junk they held within. Most of the time, whatever she found were more than a little useful and it stands to reason that if they took the time to search, they might just find more pieces similar to the one Zelda now held.

"You're really full of surprises, Samus Aran. I'm not sure exactly how your mind or logic works, but I am thankful you're the one they assigned to me," Zelda said sincerely. A small blush coated her cheeks as she said the words.

She had to admit she did not like the idea of being escorted by someone, especially when the academy notified her that they had made a call to Commander Malkovich. She had been expecting a simple soldier but it did surprise her when she ended up being placed with a strange, intimidating person with armor that seemed more advanced than any she had ever seen; and she had seen many technological marvels, new and old, in her years of being alive. Naturally Zelda remained reluctant, especially when learning this escort of hers would be a bounty hunter. They would do anything for the right price.

But Samus ended up being nothing like she had expected. And for that, Zelda was thankful. Despite the dangers and unwanted situations she found herself in since meeting the hunter, she was glad that of all people, Samus was the one she ended up with. And she was glad Samus was… _Samus_.

There was no sense of putting up any pretences with the mysterious bounty hunter, and Zelda found it very ironic how Samus' face was kept hidden and yet the hunter was the most honest and sincere person she had ever met in her life. And all without saying a word to her. Not that she minded; Zelda was more than used to silence. The mere presence of Samus was enough to make her feel rather secure, and in good company.

Suddenly, it was as if the heat of Alinos could no longer affect her, and Zelda felt herself become reinvigorated.

"Well then; shall we get going? We've already started so we might as well see this through." The Hylian said more confidently. She pocketed the little unknown device and strapped her Sheikah Slate to her pants.

For the second time on that day, the sudden change in demeanor surprised Samus a bit. But it seems that her young charge was now up to the task of scouring parts of the planet. Inwardly, the bounty hunter congratulated herself on a job well-done for bringing Zelda's excitement back. The young Hylian's adventurous spirit was rather contagious as Samus now felt more than ready to trek through the lava zones of this barren planet.

Both hunter and scholar exchanged looks and nodded at each other before turning and heading off deeper into Alinos.

* * *

 **I apologize that this chapter seems more like filler and isn't all that exciting. However, this story is quite a slow burn and I don't wish to rush into anything, but more will happen of course. Hopefully you all enjoyed reading this chapter.**

 **Until then…**


	5. Chapter 5: Sudden

**Chapter 5: Sudden**

"I honestly should have designed something that would make it easier for me to traverse hot temperatures…" Zelda grumbled as she found herself once again being carried across more lava zones in Samus' arms.

The hunter did not seem to mind carrying Zelda across chasms and rivers of lava; the Hylian was as light as a feather to her. And it was much faster this way than to allow Zelda to struggle in an attempt to get around the overly-heated rooms and volcanic areas. As determined as she was, she wasn't as well-equipped as Samus for highly intense environments such as this.

Zelda tapped away on her Sheikah Slate, deciding to do _something_ while having no choice but to let her escort carry her around, for now. "What exactly happened on this planet that it turned into such a volcanic wasteland? You've been here before; I'm sure there's a story to tell."

Samus looked down at the Hylian in her arms and nodded, but offered no other sort of explanation; silent or not.

"Very well. You can keep that to yourself then. No that it would do me any good at the moment…" Zelda mumbled, a pout forming on her lips.

The hunter glanced down at her and noticed the pout. For some reason it looked rather endearing and—dare she think it?—adorable. Samus was sure that the young scholar had no idea that she was pouting so much, but it was utterly amusing to see. The hunter had never seen such an expression before, let alone met anyone who made pouting seem cute.

"What is it?" Zelda looked up at the blank visor, sensing that her escort was staring.

Samus shook her head and turned her head to face forward again before making another leap across to another safe spot and on solid ground. When all seemed to be clear of any sort of immediate danger, she finally allowed her charge to stand on her own two feet.

Zelda looked around before glancing at the screen of the Sheikah Slate. "Now what?"

Upon looking around, it seemed to be ruins of what was left of the planet's civilization. Some structures were intact, as well as many of the doors. But other than that, only more fire and brimstone greeted them. It was better than nothing, a least.

Samus' visor began to glow a little brighter as she looked around the area. Zelda raised an eyebrow when she noticed this; upon seeing the bright glow she suspected she had an idea as to what her escort was up to. Deciding to do the same, Zelda help up the Sheikah Slate and the eye at the back began to scan.

The screen began to fill up as a map of the immediate area began to form. Intrigue began to overcome Zelda when she noticed the hidden nooks and crannies that appeared along with the rest of the map. It seems there was much more to this burning planet than she thought.

When she looked back at Samus, the armored warrior was already watching her; the T-shaped visor back to its usual glow, indicating that she had finished scanning already. Samus tilted her head in question.

"Um? Yes, I've got it. Nayru seems to have picked up all there is to find. Unless…there is another secret that can't be found with simple scanning devices?" Zelda asked.

Samus shook her head and pointed at another gap in the wall. The hunter approached it before gesturing for her charge to wait where she was. Of course, before Zelda could protest, the hunter had curled into a ball once again and hopped up into the hole, rolling in.

"For goodness sake! Is it _that_ normal for you to just curl up and spend your time in holes?" Zelda said, raising her arms in exasperation.

Naturally, no reply came and Zelda leaned against the wall beside the gap. She crossed her arms and let out a huff as she tapped her foot. It was still rather curious how such a bulky suit could just turn into a perfectly smooth, round sphere. And it seemed impossible that someone of such stature like Samus could bend her body so much that she could allow herself to turn into a ball. She would have to have little to no bones in that case.

She shook her head and frowned at herself. Why was she even thinking about this? And theorizing about her escort! Samus was a person, not a test subject, she scolded herself.

At the same time, she could not help it. Her mind always worked and always needed to seek answers, to study and to understand. It was hard to resist mysteries like this. However, she had to decided to label the mystery that is Samus Aran, as off-limits. This was somebody who definitely should not be messed with and who prefers to keep to themselves. And Zelda would rather remain on the armored warrior's good side and not do anything to ruin the comradeship they had developed these past few days.

Just as she finished her thoughts, she heard sounds of metal and something moving. Zelda moved away from the wall and looked over at the gap to see Samus rolling back out and instantly uncurling back into a humanoid form.

"Did anything happen in there?" Zelda asked curiously.

Samus nodded and lifted her hand, holding something between her fingers. It was another chunk of a device; possible another piece of the same one Zelda already had with her.

"You found another piece?" The young scholar's eyes widened as she handed the mysterious chunk.

She swiftly pulled the first piece from her pocket and looked at the two pieces in her hand. They seemed to have come from or are the same sort of device. If they could find the rest, or at least a good enough number of them, then it might be possible to restore and see just watch these pieces created when they were made into one.

The Sheikah Slate scanned the new piece but the data was still incomplete.

Zelda sighed in disappointment. "Well, I suppose this means there might be more pieces. If not, then I can try and see if I can reconstruct whatever this is…" She turned to Samus, "But are you sure you should be allowing me to assemble these chunks together?"

Samus just shrugged. If she felt that the device would be of any harm, she would not have bothered to give it to a student. When she had scanned the unknown device, it gave no indication of anything harmful, despite the lack of data it provided.

"Well then…" Zelda nodded and pocketed the new piece. "I've yet to find anything I could use in my studies for this planet. Any chance there might be… _something_ organic I could study?"

The hunter thought for a moment before nodding slowly. She picked Zelda up once again, earning a yelp from the Hylian.

"Wait! I don't need to be carried to the next room! Please tell me there isn't another lava river through the next door," She groaned as she tried to get down from the warrior's arms.

Samus only shook her head and aimed her cannon at the next door, causing it to open. She then jogged forward, still carrying her charge. Zelda made a face but did not bother protesting anymore. She could walk by herself, but if Samus had to carry her like this… Honestly, she had no idea why she was being carried if there was no fiery river to jump over.

The other side of the door let back outside, and once they were out, Samus slowed down a bit before pointing towards something. Zelda looked over to what the warrior was pointing at and noticed what looked like a large brown mushroom with twisted stalks and what looked like a red spot on the top of its cap. Samus gestured for the Hylian to go ahead and scan it with the Sheikah Slate.

Zelda stared. "… Is that a Blastcap?"

The hunter nodded in confirmation and adjusted her hold on the young scholar slightly. She had her fair share of run-ins with these mushroom-like organisms before; though it was probably best to try and find a different specimen for Zelda to study, as Blastcaps explode upon impact and release a noxious fumes, it might be less of a hassle to go after something that won't try to hunt down and kill them. Especially after the last two incidents. Still, they would need to be careful with handling Blastcaps.

Zelda knocked on the red chest piece of Samus' armor. "Mind putting me down? I can't work like this."

Samus tensed and shook her head. That would be inadvisable; she could not have the curious young woman getting too close and accidentally triggering a reaction from the Blastcaps. It would be on Samus if the young Hylian ended up inhaling the toxins or getting injured from being blown up.

"For goodness sakes! Put me down! I'm not going to do anything!" Zelda insisted, struggling a bit more.

Samus sighed. Maybe they should have gone after a zoomer instead. At least she could kill those without triggering an explosion so that Zelda could study it closely without any potential risks. Finally, the young scholar managed to break free from Samus' hold and straightened herself up before looking back over her shoulder to give Samus a look.

The hunter remained on guard as the young scholar slowly approached the large Blastcap with tentative steps, her Sheikah Slate in hand. As she got closer, the Blastcap began to stir. The mushroom-like organism began to shake around, making a rustling sound as it did so. Zelda paused and did not take another step. Where she stood was probably the best distance she could be at without causing any sort of incident.

She pointed the Sheikah eye of the slate at the Blastcap and snapped an image of the specimen before scanning it. Immediately her device began to process the data it received.

The Blastcap continued to shake and emit rustling noises and Zelda began to take a step back. As she did so, Samus swiftly grabbed her elbow and hoisted the young scholar back up into her arms, keeping her charge safe from any gas or explosions.

"Honestly, I know how to work my way around living organisms like these, thank you very much!" Zelda insisted stubbornly.

Samus narrowed her eyes at her from behind the visor and kept her hold firm around the young scholar. There was no way she was going to take a chance; she _still_ had to keep her in one piece, and by now she was familiar with Zelda's curiosity and she was not going to allow it let her walk up to the nearest deadliest living thing and stand in harm's way.

Zelda frowned. "I still need to be able to study it. I can't just get data and leave it at that; our studies require an intimate study…"

The hunter rolled her eyes and pointed her arm cannon at the Blastcap before unleashing a light blast, making sure not to hit it with full power so that the mushroom life form did not disintegrate, but it would be relatively safe for being dissected and studied.

Zelda gaped, her eyes going wide at the sudden action. She looked between the now limp Blastcap, and up at Samus, who seemed rather pleased with what had just happened.

The hunter placed the Hylian down again and approached the Blastcap, grabbing it by the stalk with her armored hand and yanking it up from the ground with relative ease, holding it up for Zelda to see, as if it were a trophy.

The young scholar just continued to gape, utterly speechless. She would have remained standing there if it weren't for Samus tossing the limp Blastcap over her shoulder before gripping the back of Zelda's shirt and dragging the stunned Hylian along with her, back to the gunship.

Upon returning to the areas with the lava rivers, Samus lifted Zelda up onto her free arm and proceeded to carry her as well.

* * *

"I still can't believe you just…did that!" Zelda exclaimed as they reached the gunship and Samus let go of the young Hylian.

The hunter looked down at her charge before tilting head towards the Blastcap she still had hung over her rounded, armored shoulder. She was silently asking where to put it once they got back inside the ship. Now that they had their specimen, Zelda could work on it to her heart's content.

"Wait! Perhaps it's best that we work on this specimen…outside of the ship. I know Blastcaps release noxious gas, so it may be better for us to work out in the open to avoid having your vessel fill up with anything toxic." Zelda said.

Samus paused and thought about it. She did have a point; it was best not to take risks dissecting such a life form in an enclosed space. And Samus did need her gunship.

With an understanding nod, the hunter tossed the dead Blastcap onto the ground, at Zelda's feet. The young scholar jumped back and gave the space warrior a look and rolled her eyes. Samus chuckled slightly at the reaction.

"Not one for finesse, are you?" Zelda mumbled.

Samus shrugged nonchalantly in response and gestured for her charge to go ahead and start her dissecting. After all, it was what they had come here for. As usual, she remained close by as Zelda observed the specimen before her.

"Hmm… I'm going to need some tools to make an incision, but I'll have to be careful. If any sort of fumes are released or if it still tends to explode…"

The bounty hunter approached and pointed at her arm cannon, as if hinting at something. Zelda raised an eyebrow until she noticed the inside of the cannon glowing slightly. She moved back quickly just as the under fired a thin blast from her cannon, using it as a makeshift laser cutter. Samus ran it along down the length of the Blastcap. Once she reached the end, Samus deactivated her cannon, stopping the makeshift laser cutter.

"Well…that was… Yes, that was a good improvisation. I didn't know you could do that with your…weaponry." Zelda said, looking at the hunter's arm cannon with surprised intrigue. She had only ever seen the hunter use it as a blasting weapon, but never as some laser.

Samus felt pleased with herself and nodded in satisfaction. She remained by Zelda's side as the young scholar looked back at the specimen and began to prod at it. So far, no noxious gas.

"Hmm… The anatomy of this specimen is certainly different from any of the planet organisms I have seen so far. It's familiar, yet quite…off. I'll need to study this most closely for a little while." Zelda muttered to herself more than to Samus.

Zelda pulled out a small case from her pocket, containing small tools she could use to prod around and inspect every part of the Blastcap's anatomy. While she had read a good bit about Blastcaps and the kind of environments and planets they could be found in, this one was just slightly off. Aside from the fact that the species on Alinos possessed a red spot on its cap, there was something strange about the insides of this one.

"Nayru, a specimen scan if you will." Zelda said, holding the Sheikah Slate in her free hand. The device beeped and the eye at the back proceeded with its scanning.

So far, the scans seem to come up normal, until it reached a particular section of the Blastcap's anatomy. Sensing an anomaly, the Sheikah Slate began to beep loudly, alerting Zelda of its findings. The young Hylian turned the slate around to look at the screen.

"That's odd," Zelda murmured.

Sensing something amiss, Samus approached and looked down at the screen of the device over Zelda's shoulder. Based on the readings, it seemed like there was something wrong with the Blastcap that they had brought back.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before? It's like some sort of…sack of some kind. Or perhaps a growth that had developed inside of it…" Zelda said speculated.

The hunter looked at the Blastcap and activated her own scanner. And just like the readings shown on the Sheikah Slate, Samus' scan visor detected something that she had never before seen on a Blastcap's anatomy. She had scanned these species before, but never had she ever encountered one with this strange growth.

Samus looked at Zelda and placed her hand on the young Hylian's shoulder.

"I know. I'm not sure what it is either, so I have no intention of poking at it, yet. Not until I am certain as to what it is. However…I don't know I can test this…thing." Zelda said, narrowing her eyes a bit as she observed the data. "I can hardly tell if it's benign or dangerous, so this might be a challenge."

The hunter crossed her arms and tried to consider the options they had. She may not be a scientist, but Samus was a veteran when it came to encountering strange and unknown new creatures, or worse. She could not take the risk with Zelda; even if this strange findings seemed like nothing more but an odd growth. The hunter knew better than to think that even a little thing could be harmless. She was not going to make that mistake again.

Zelda glanced up at her escort. She sensed a bit of tension there, and so she cleared her throat. "Perhaps, for now…I should make a report of this. Until I can think of a way to extract and examine this anomaly. In the meantime I can… Well…um…"

The hunter noticed the uncertainty of the young woman. Zelda was not going to take a risk, yet. But now Samus would have to find a way to keep both herself and Zelda from becoming restless and bored out of their minds.

"Well, I suppose we can take a break after being in the heat of this planet. Or…do you not need a break?" The young scholar asked, eyeing the hunter's armor.

Samus looked down at the Blastcap specimen. It might not be a good idea to leave it lying around. Who knows what may happen while neither of them were looking. She continued to stare at the dead, dissected mushroom specimen, and it did not escape the notice of Zelda.

"Or…perhaps you would like to stay out here and keep an eye on this thing…?" She muttered and looked at the gunship. "Would you mind terribly if I rummaged through your kitchen area again?"

Samus looked at her and nodded. She did not mind; she hardly used her kitchen anyway.

Upon receiving approval, Zelda went over to the ship before pausing. "… Perhaps I might need some help getting up this time."

The hunter blinked and looked over at her charge. Zelda looked at her sheepishly and the hunter sighed, going over to her and easily picking her up. In a single leap, Samus made to the top of her ship and placed her charge back down onto her feet. The Hylian smiled in thanks and stepped onto the platform. Samus watched as she went back down into the ship, and then turned, jumping back down to resume her observation of the Blastcap's anomaly.

Zelda did have a point; if they were to examine the strange growth up close, they would need to find a better way than just poking at it. What if it exploded or released something toxic? What if it was infected with something?

Samus narrowed her eyes as she got a closer look. The anomaly was some sort of lump, black in color and seemed to be somewhat pulsing. Or was she seeing things? No, she was certain she saw a sort of pulsing motion even if it hardly seemed like it. She had experienced more than enough chaotic situations, and once again she reminded herself that she was _not_ going to take any chances.

"Pardon me, Samus! But do you suppose you could help me out for just a moment?" Zelda's voice called out to her.

The hunter took her eyes off the Blastcap to look over to the top of her ship. Zelda was watching her intently and for some reason, the hunter felt like something was off. What was she calling for now? Samus shrugged to herself and decided to deal with it.

Once she got onto her ship, she had a mug shoved into her chest. Samus quickly took a hold of it in her hand before it could crash on top of her vessel, and stared at it in confusion. She then turned her gaze to Zelda.

"I figured you'd be obsessing over that little finding. So I made us some cocoa. Cold cocoa, to be exact. Since we're surrounded by fire and lava…" Zelda explained, smirking a bit as she took a sip from her own mug.

Samus looked inside the mug she held in her hand and saw the liquid inside. It was indeed cocoa. But how did the young scholar get it to cool down that fast?

As if sensing the question, Zelda lifted her lips from her mug. "Ah, well, I used Cryostasis a bit in order to make the drinks cold. Don't worry, I didn't turn your ship into a frozen wasteland if that's what you're thinking."

Before the hunter would react, she took another look at Zelda and chuckled lightly when she noticed the brown smear of cocoa on the Hylian's lips. The young scholar raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. Samus just shook her head and handed Zelda her mug.

Zelda opened her mouth to say something but stopped short when the bounty hunter reached out an armored hand to run her thumb along her lips. Samus made sure to wipe off every bit of the chocolate drink before pulling her hand away when she was satisfied that the smears were completely gone.

The young scholar's eyes were wide with surprise and she pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips. Her eyes moved up to the visor of her armored escort. "… Thank you."

Samus nodded in response before taking back her mug of cold cocoa.

"Well…Enjoy your drink. I'll just…go back down and try to run some analysis on that broken device you found. Hopefully it would turn out to be something useful. If I manage to make heads or tails of it that is. I still need to find some sort of way to study that Blastcap properly without causing any sort of…incident. I know I've had enough of those for a while." Zelda said with an almost awkward chuckle.

The hunter nodded before turning away and jumping down from the top of her ship, being careful not to spill her cocoa in the process.

And the day seemed to slow to a crawl for both of them after that.

Zelda had remained inside the cabin, tapping the back of a pen against the table. She resisted the urge to nibble the back of the pen as she mentally tried to make sense of her current project. She had spent time trying to identify the pieces she had with her at the moment, and probably even identify its use or even what kind of device it might have been.

So far, she barely had any real results despite how versatile her Sheikah Slate was. Even it could only get so far. It seemed that it almost managed to find some results but was stopped short. At the same time, Zelda tried to see what she could find on the pieces; seems that she might need to find a few more pieces before any of it made sense. But they could not possible run all over the entire planet in hopes of finding more pieces of an unknown device. What were even the chances that there were more intact pieces like the ones Samus found? And just because these two pieces seemed to fit together, that did not necessarily mean they were from the same device or machine.

"Nayru…run another analysis…" She said tiredly, sighing as the Sheikah Slate ran the analysis again.

On the screen, she could see the slate scanning the unknown device, even attempting to recreate what it may have looked like while it had been whole. It seemed to almost paint a clear picture, before stopping midway when the slate had no more data to work with.

"Damn it all!" Zelda cursed as she dug her fingers into her hair.

She had spent who knows how many hours, working on this little mystery and she was nowhere close to even solving it. And Samus had not stepped in for a while either; no doubt the hunter was still keeping an eye on the Blastcap.

Upon remembering her specimen, Zelda jolted upright. The Blastcap might have gone rotten and shrivelled away by now and she had not even had the chance to study the growth she had found inside its system.

She hurriedly set her things aside on the desk and rushed out of the cabin and got onto the platform, letting it send her to the topside of the ship. She tapped her foot anxiously; how could she had been so foolish as to forget that she was supposed to be studying a specimen? Now she might have to get another one all over again, and she was certain it would not have that strange lump in it like the Blastcap she and Samus had brought back with them.

The moment she got to the top, Zelda moved to the edge and sat herself down in order to slide downwards off the gunship. She exhaled, scooting forward and she soon found herself slipping down the side of the gunship. She braced herself for the impact she would make against the ground, only to feel no real ache or pain as she landed.

She had landed on something solid, so why didn't it hurt? Zelda opened one eye and realized that Samus had caught her. The Hylian flushed in embarrassment as the bounty hunter put her back down on the ground.

"Thank you, Samus. I was in a rush," Zelda admitted.

Samus nodded in understanding and gestured for the scholar to follow. Raising an eyebrow, Zelda did just that and her eyes widened at what she saw. The Blastcap was frozen now; preserved in the ice to keep it from rotting and shrivelling away.

Zelda was about to ask how it happened, but paused when she remembered Samus demonstrating that the arm cannon had an ice beam function. That would explain how the hunter froze the Blastcap. But what had surprised the Hylian, was that Samus had thought to preserve the specimen in ice so that Zelda would still have something to study.

"… You truly thought ahead, didn't you?" Zelda said in awe.

Samus waved her off. It was nothing after all; just logic. After all, Samus too needed to know what the anomaly was and so she preserved the specimen in ice to keep it as 'fresh' as possible.

"You didn't happen to find anything out, by any chance…did you?" Zelda asked, fidgeting slightly.

The hunter crossed her arms and shook her head, seeming disappointed that she had not been able to learn anything new either. Samus had been resisting the urge to just go ahead and poke at the thing, but she knew that it would be a bad idea, and it was also Zelda's little project; she couldn't mess around with that. So instead, she decided to encase the specimen in ice until they figured out what to do.

"I haven't made progress either. I think we might be at a standstill for now." Zelda said with a defeated sigh.

Samus knew that the Hylian was growing quite frustrated, and even quite worn down. She looked like she had been working on her studies for the entire day and had yet to even take a break. Her hair looked a little frazzled and the braid in her hair looked loose now. Zelda clearly needed a rest.

The hunter gestured to the ship.

"Rest? I'm not sure if I can…" Zelda said, her tone growing weary.

Samus pointed at the ship in a stern manner; the Hylian needed rest and there was no real rush. Being in a volcanic planet could take a lot out of someone and Zelda clearly was not used to just having herself being carried over lakes of lava on a daily basis.

"Fine. I suppose I could close my eyes for a bit…" Zelda yawned, "…just for a bit."

The hunter nodded in agreement and took the Hylian's hand in hers, leading her back to the ship before lifting her up into her arms once more in order to bring her charge to the topside of the gunship.

Zelda sighed and took a step towards the platform. She paused to look at Samus. "What about you?"

Samus shook her head and pat the Hylian's head reassuringly. She would be fine; Zelda was the one who needed the rest, more than the hunter did. Samus was used to staying awake for days on end and so she was used to it.

When the young scholar finally disappeared back down into the ship, Samus exhaled. She would keep an eye out for anything that might be a potential threat. So far nothing came for them, and the only thing she had to worry about was the Blastcap encased in ice. So far.

* * *

After securing the frozen specimen and patrolling the area to make certain that nothing threatening is nearby, Samus finally decided to return to the inside of her ship.

For now there was nothing that could be done. They would have to take a break from all this speculating and thinking, especially for Zelda. The Hylian had been wracking her brain the entire day, and seemed to be losing sleep over what she still could not understand or had no answers to. Even Samus could notice the stress it was putting on her, especially since Zelda was a student.

The bounty hunter made the jump to the top of her ship and step onto the platform, letting it bring her down inside her vessel.

Samus made her way to the cockpit but froze in mid-step as she was about to walk past the cabin. She looked over at the hatch and sighed. The hunter had the urge to check on her charge, even though she knew that she was pretty much safe. Still, the hunter could not ignore her instincts.

For years she had learned to trust her instincts, even if it led her to make difficult decisions. As a hunter, it was just a part of her life. She was a warrior, trained from a too-early age to fight and survive in a world full of hostility and potential threats that loomed just on the horizon.

How many missions—both the dangerous ones to the most mundane and boring ones—had she survived in her life? No two missions would end up the same, despite all having similar names and titles. Life was unpredictable and so no matter how many times she took on the same missions, different things could always happen.

She knew better than to brush off something, no matter how small.

With a groan, Samus faced the cabin doors and was about to enter, but something made her stop. There were noises coming from the cabin and Samus tensed up until she recognized what the sound was. The sounds were coming from Zelda herself, it seems. The Hylian was whimpering and sniffling. She was… _crying_.

The hunter was taken aback by this. Was she in pain? Did she get hurt? Was she sick and it was just taking its toll on her now? She had no idea and she was clueless on what to do or how to react to this. The sobbing continued and it did sound like the young scholar was in some sort of pain. The sound was…almost too much to bear, even for a hardened warrior like Samus.

Cautiously, Samus entered the cabin to check on Zelda.

The Hylian was lying down on the bed, but she looked anything but restful and at peace. Instead, Zelda was shifting every so often as if she were having trouble getting comfortable. Was she having a nightmare perhaps? Samus approached her slowly, making sure not to wake her, and peeked down at the young scholar. Zelda's eyes were closed but her expression looked incredibly sad and there were wet streaks running down her face. A trail of tears.

Just then, the young scholar let out another sob and more tears slid down her face, falling onto the pillow and creating more wet spots on the fabric.

Samus had seen and experienced being around people who became emotional. She had seen every emotion: fear, anger, happiness, sadness… And yet, when she saw the tears fall down her charge's cheeks, something inside her stirred inside of her chest. It felt like a very faint ache.

Suddenly, Zelda's eyes snapped open as she gasped. She remained frozen in place for a while before she actually noticed Samus standing there looking her over. When she did see the hunter, the young woman sat up hastily and turned her head away to rub her eyes dry.

"Samus! Uh…did you need something? Did anything happen? She was speaking quickly and sounding a bit nervous and flustered, even avoiding proper eye contact with the armored warrior. A frown formed on Samus' lips, though of course the Hylian could not see it through the helmet.

Samus pointed at Zelda and tilted her head slightly.

"I was just…having some trouble sleeping. I have developed a bit of a habit of staying awake all night whenever I study, nothing for you to fret about," Zelda insisted before she tossed the blanket off of her body and she got off the bed, rather quickly.

Before the hunter could even understand what was happening, Zelda was out of the cabin in a flash. Samus blinked, attempting to process what had just occurred. However, as soon as she snapped out of her stupor, she realized that the young woman had actually fled and left the gunship.

Samus rushed off, not bothering to use the platform to get to the topside of her ship. She jumped out instead and looked around worriedly, hoping that the young scholar had not decided to just wander off on her own.

Much to her relief, Zelda had not left the safety of their little base camp and was instead, pacing back and forth. Samus' visor zoomed in on her and scanned the young scholar. She was obviously fretting about something.

The hunter scans revealed that Zelda was having some sort of anxiety attack and that she was going through a depressive state. Though there had previously been no indication that she was bothered by anything or had a hint of depression.

Despite this, Samus knew better than to judge. She knew what it was like to suddenly be attacked by your own mind. Still…

Samus jumped down from her ship and approached her charge. Zelda still continued to pace, completely unaware of the bounty hunter's presence. She was taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself and she ran her hands along her head in a frustrated manner. She was sniffling and groaning at herself; most likely trying not to cry again.

Zelda sensed that she was being watched, and stopped. She glanced over to the side and found Samus there, watching her.

"I…I sometimes have trouble sleeping; sometimes I get nightmares as well. I get anxious about my grades, and such… Sorry for troubling you. I was just getting some air, then I will go back inside." She tried to explain, but Samus continued to stare.

As a bounty hunter, Samus had learned to become a brilliant observer in exchange for not saying much. She watched people, observed them from whatever distance, and learned their little quirks and habits. As a result, she had learned to tell when people were lying or if they were being honest and sincere. In this case, Zelda was not telling her the entire truth and seemed to be rather nervous and anxious.

Zelda's pacing grew a bit more panicked. She kept glancing at Samus before looking down at her feet. It was as if she was trying to consider her options, what decision to make. The young Hylian's breathing began to grow rapid despite her best attempts not to show it. She clenched her fist and pressed the side of it to her lips. As she went on, she began to look more like a cornered cat. She grit her teeth in an attempt to hold back some sort of outburst of emotion.

Samus narrowed her eyes, feeling her instincts kick in. The Hylian was hiding something and it looked like it was about to eat her alive from the inside out.

The hunter took a step forward and Zelda tensed. Her pacing stopped but she still looked like there was a weight on her back. She cleared her throat and it sounded like her voice would crack if she spoke. When the Hylian glanced at her escort, she could see that Samus had no intention of budging.

She did not think it would get this bad; just when she had been ready to get some sleep like Samus suggested, Zelda had found herself lying awake for quite a while and she could not stop her mind from wandering off a little too far.

At first it had started with her doing some more theorizing and speculating on the mysterious device she and Samus had found, and then she moved on to trying to think of an idea of how to extract the odd black mass from the Blastcap's system without risking any sort of incident. But as she continued; thinking, speculating, her mind began to take a sharp turn. And for the worse.

As she continued to think, she began to reminisce. It had been so sudden, as moments of the past suddenly made their way into her brain, as if taunting her, mocking her. Words, and scenes, they all came flooding back, especially the scenes that made her…sad.

She hated them. She hated remembering, and she hated being reminded that she was…herself. She had been reminded all her life, being told, being pushed to the breaking point. But now she had broken free, and it had been years; why do they still hurt and mock her? Why did she still recall? Why couldn't she be stronger? More determined? Why couldn't she stop crying?

And now she was being cornered by this warrior because she had been foolish enough to let herself slip up and make a had no idea what else to do. The only thing her instincts were telling her to do, was to escape. Retreat and hide away, just like she always had to in order to survive. In order to keep her sanity.

"Well, goodnight then…" Zelda shifted and began walking towards the ship, hoping to get away from the staring eyes, even though they were hidden behind a helmet. She could sense them looking right through her.

Samus' eyes widened when she saw a flash of fear in the Hylian's eyes. She had become used to seeing her charge's bright green eyes glow with life, eagerness, and curiosity. But now, none of that were present. Instead she saw urgency, and the need to just…run.

The hunter was familiar with the feeling, but she sensed Zelda's were for a different reason. Unlike Samus, Zelda was no hunter or fighter. And so the fear she had was something akin to that of a child being yelled at while backed into a corner, a fear of being struck, a fear of being put into trouble again whether they were at fault or not. It was not something Samus expected to see in such a determined, curious and hard-working young woman like Zelda.

As she gathered her thoughts, Samus noticed that the Hylian was beginning to move. Like scared prey, Zelda sidestepped the hunter and tried to get back to the gunship.

She was not sure why, but the hunter hated seeing such a look on her charge's face. Zelda was still young and full of life. Vibrant and willing to learn and improve, even perhaps having a purpose in the universe to make a great change. She should not have to have such a look on her face. The bounty hunter had the sudden urge to do something, _anything_ to soothe the Hylian.

Just as the young scholar rushed towards the ship, towards something she could use as a safe place, Samus found herself acting on instinct as she reached her hand out.

" _Zelda_."

The Hylian froze, eyes widening when she heard the voice. It was unfamiliar to her and yet there was only one source that it could have come from. Zelda turned around to look at the hunter.

Samus approached her slowly, carefully. She did not want Zelda to think she was upset or make the young scholar think she had reason to retreat inside herself. She needed some sort of reassurance, but the hunter was not sure how to provide it. She was not great at dealing with people, and she only knew how to follow her instincts, her gut feelings. And right now, they were telling her to do just one thing in order to calm down the suddenly-skittish Hylian.

Slowly, Samus reached up and placed her cannon and hand on either side of her helmet. She began to pull it off. The young scholar needed to see a friendly face; even if it was just the hunter's own scarred features.

Zelda watched as the red helmet slipped off of the bounty hunter's head, finally revealing the face that had remained hidden since the very start.

What was revealed to her, was not what she expected but it was still a sight to behold. Samus Aran had a serious and solemn face, her eyes the most intense blue Zelda had ever seen, and her face had scars here and there, the hunter's hair was a lovely blonde and; long and was tied up into a ponytail with a red band.

The hunter tensed up as her eyes finally met Zelda's, without he visor getting in the way. Those bright green eyes looked at her with such surprise, and Samus returned the look with the best soft reassuring gaze she could manage. She wanted to show her that she had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. The hunter was not going to hurt her in any way; she was safe and Samus was not angry at her for any sort of reason. Whatever was scaring Zelda, whatever was making her sad, whatever made her feel like she had to run away and escape, it was not here and it cannot harm her.

Zelda did not know what she had been expecting when she finally came face-to-face with her mysterious protector. But it was certainly not this; not those blue eyes giving her a look that was trying to tell her that there was nothing to fear. Her chest ached and a choked sob finally escaped. The young scholar began shaking and her breathing more rapid.

Samus stepped closer to her and placed her hand on the Hylian's shoulder. She was taken aback and Zelda pressed her forehead to the armor's chest and began sobbing. Her shoulders were shaking as the dam broke, unleashing the tears that she had been trying to hide for a while on that night.

The bounty hunter was not sure what to do now, but she sure as hell could not leave the young woman out like this. She gently pat Zelda's back, waiting and letting her unleash whatever was on her chest.

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to witness that." Zelda said softly.

After the young scholar had finished crying, Samus brought her back inside the ship and the two were now sitting in the cabin, both nursing a cup of cocoa that Zelda had decided to make again. It seemed to help keep her calm and the Hylian seemed to be back to her usual self, and was now rather embarrassed.

Samus just shook her head, letting her know that it was no bother. The hunter left her helmet off this time, letting it sit on top of the desk amongst the young woman's studies.

"I didn't think… I was hoping that this wouldn't happen while I was out in the field. It hadn't happened in a while, and I never feel it whenever I'm studying. Researching just makes me happy. Usually." Zelda said before taking a sip from her mug.

Samus watched her. "… Depression?"

Zelda glanced over at her, still getting used to hearing her escort's voice. After a pregnant pause, she answered. "… I just get very…anxious sometimes. I fret too much and get an anxiety attack. I was hoping that I wouldn't experience an attack like that while doing my field studies. Apparently, my head had other plans…"

"How often does this happen?"

"Whenever it feels like it. I'm usually fine, but sometimes I get anxious about things like my grades, though I usually am certain I did well. I can't help but worry. And sometimes I can't help but feel upset about something. And there are moments where I just want to cry for no reason. I know, it's too strange, and insane." Zelda grumbled as she took another sip of cocoa.

The hunter frowned. "Did something upset you? Was it the fact that we were getting nowhere at the moment?"

Zelda shook her head. "Oh, no! No, not at all! I suppose I left myself open to a panic attack; I was thinking too much and suddenly I started thinking about things that had so much negativity… I just wanted to cry."

"But you're feeling better now," Samus surmised.

The Hylian nodded. "Much. Thank you. And, again, I'm so sorry that you had to witness that mess. I try not to make an outburst like that but unfortunately, I seem to lose myself whenever I go to a dark place in my head; whether I want to or not, and whether I realize it or not."

"Nothing to be ashamed about. If you're stressed, I can understand that. Even if it was more than that, I can say I know what it's like to have your own head turn and bring you somewhere you don't want to be." Samus said, her expression turned serious as she stared at the wall across from her, as if facing an old enemy.

Zelda placed her mug aside. "I appreciate that. And…well, I'm surprised you decided to…show yourself. You're not what I expected, but…" Zelda stood up from where she was sitting and reached out a hand to Samus. "It's nice to _finally_ meet you, Samus Aran."

The hunter allowed a small smile to form on her lips as she also put her own mug down and took her charge's hand. "Nice to finally meet you too, Zelda."

"So, it seems there's more to you than meets the eye," The Hylian commented.

Samus smirked. "And you too."

"You don't often take that armor off, do you? How do you handle it?" Zelda raised an eyebrow, sitting back down.

The hunter shrugged. "It's a part of me, a part of my being. Can't really be without it, even if I take it off."

"Don't worry. If you feel more comfortable keeping your entire armor on, I don't mind. And you don't need to respond verbally; I'm fine with the silence. Very used to it." Zelda reassured, smiling at her escort politely.

Samus shook her head. "It's not that I don't like talking or don't want to talk to you. I just…don't have much to say, and I never really saw a point in just chattering away all the time. Instead I just…watch."

"You find solace in silence, you see and understand more when you observe rather than speak. You feel that you can learn more when you take a careful look, rather than just running your mouth. Observing is safer, but it is also a way for you to take in your surroundings, and the individuals around you without them realizing that you are learning much about them…" Zelda soft with an understanding tone in her voice.

Samus shifted slightly. "You do the same?"

Zelda nodded, sipping her cocoa. "At times, yes. I focus a lot better away from the hustle and bustle, but sometimes I also need the sounds to stimulate my mind. If it's too silent then…it gets a bit lonely. I prefer to observe as well, because it keeps me at a safe distance. And I can be certain that the ones I encounter would be genuine, because I have watched and made sure, and I've seen how they are from a distance."

"Sometimes, actions are better than words. Words can fail, and words can be used to fabricate," Samus crossed her arms, a deep frown crossed her features.

The young scholar shook her head. "That is true. But words can also be genuine, they can be filled with so much emotions and promise, even though it is true that at times those words can be taken back, be broken or be lies…when the words prove true, then it just gives you a rather great feeling."

Samus watched as a small, sad smile formed on Zelda's lips. In a way, Zelda had a point and the hunter had to admit that she agreed. But Samus had never been good with social interactions, and so preferred keeping her distance still. But, interacting Zelda was proving to be easier than she had initially thought.

Awkward silence followed, and the two found themselves sitting close without anything much else to say.

Zelda finally cleared her throat. "As I said before; I don't mind if you remain silent. But…I admit that I would also like to hear your voice more often."

* * *

 **At last, a bit more has been revealed. Our duo isn't done with the planet yet though, and who knows what may happen while they are there. Trouble just seems to follow them around lately.**

 **Thanks for taking the time to read this next chapter. Hopefully you had fun. I'm glad that I finally got to this point, and soon I can begin getting to the parts I've been looking forward to writing!**

 **Until then…**


	6. Chapter 6: Into the Fire

**Chapter 6: Into the Fire**

"The third piece! I was so certain I would have to reconstruct something myself if we did not find anything!" Zelda exclaimed excitedly when Samus once again returned with a metallic chunk that seemed to fit with the previous two.

"Will this finally be enough for your Sheikah Slate?" Samus asked, handing the object to her.

Zelda nodded. "It should be enough for Nayru to work with. Whatever is still missing, I could probably work on it myself."

The hunter nodded before turning on her heels and looking around. They had entered a rather heated area, even more so than the others. A lake of lava had greeted them, much of the ground having gave way, providing just enough solid patch to use as a path to travel along safely.

"Perhaps now might be a good time to find a much less…heated site." Zelda suggested, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Samus nodded and gestured for her to follow close, as they would be heading into another area with less lava flow. It was probably for the best since she could see that her charge was sweating now; her shirt was starting to stick to her body.

The hunter led the way once more, keeping her eyes out for any sort of danger.

Beside her, Zelda was already having the new piece analysed. Once the Sheikah Slate had done its job, the young scholar eagerly awaited the results of the new discovery now that she had enough pieces to work with.

On the screen of the Sheikah Slate, it was shown that the device was now processing the new data, and combining it with that of the two previous findings.

"I'm eager to see what the results may be!" Zelda said excitedly a she walked beside the hunter.

Samus could not help but smile underneath her helmet; the young scholar had a rather charming smile. It really showcased her youth and loveliness. The hunter shook her head; those were such odd details for her to notice, but it was hard not to when it was in plain sight. And it was just a fact that the hunter could see clear as day. Someone like Zelda should always be smiling like this, not feeling frightful like she had been last night.

"So, how often have you visited these various planets? I am sure being a bounty hunter means you're quite knowledgeable about different places, but you act as if this place is more than a little familiar to you. The same goes for the other planets we visited. Ah, I'm sorry if I've asked this question before. I'm just still so curious." Zelda said.

Samus shrugged. She'd visited more than her fair share of planets; but these particular ones, she only visited once. However, the incidents attached to these planets made such big impacts on her that she found it too difficult to forget anything about them.

Zelda noticed her silence and then turned her attention back to her Sheikah Slate. "Hm, personal then."

They continued on their way, though it seemed like they would need to pass through more heated zones. Zelda held out as best as she could, considering the fact that she was sweating even more now. Her shirt was really sticking to her torso and her hair was now lined with sweat, even as she wiped it away.

Their traversing brought them to another area where spiked creatures were roaming about. Zelda stared, already intrigued and yet it seemed that she was also familiar with what creatures they were, as she took up her Sheikah Slate.

"Well I am not certain how surprised I should be that zoomers inhabit this planet as well. From what I have learned, these creatures are able to live in different environments, even very heated ones…" Zelda said as she snapped an image of a zoomer and having its data added to the compendium.

Samus stood close to her as they observed the local fauna as close as they could get.

Zelda was doing much better since her breakdown the night before and Samus found herself talking to the young scholar a bit more. While she was still silent half the time, she now had no qualms about verbally communicating with the Hylian.

"Still wishing you made something heat-proof?" The hunter asked when she noticed the young scholar wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Indeed, I do." Zelda groaned. "My home planet does get hot summers at times, and there are certain places that is practically a volcano. But I never felt heat _this_ up close."

Samus noticed that the young scholar was now perky and ready to get back to working on her field studies; as if nothing had ever happened and that she had never had some sort of an anxiety and panic attack. Zelda was wide-eyed and intrigued, even if she was irritated with the heat of Alinos, and no longer in some sort of distress. The hunter's scans even confirmed it.

"I'm curious…" Samus began, "…why did you call your device 'Nayru'? You mentioned before it doesn't have a sentient A.I. and it's just the device recognizing your voice and commands…"

"Well, like I said before; an old friend suggested giving it a name. She also told me that there is a difference between wisdom and knowledge, but… I felt Nayru would be a fitting name." Zelda answered, a small smile on her lips as she thought of that moment.

Samus tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Why 'Nayru'? What does it mean?"

Zelda chuckled. "Nayru is actually the name of one of the three goddesses. She's the Goddess of Wisdom."

The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow behind the visor. It did not sound familiar, nor did it seem anything similar the lore she had heard of and gathered in her database. The Chozo had told her stories and gave her history lessons while she had been training under them. But not once did she hear of three goddesses, with one being named Nayru.

The young scholar turned to the hunter and strapped the Sheikah Slate to her side. "You want to hear about it?"

Samus nodded in response. Why not? No harm in learning a little something new.

Zelda walked onwards, making sure to stay clear from the zoomers' path, with Samus remaining vigilant and on-guard, by her side.

"There's a legend on my planet, Hylia, which tells how our world most likely came to be. There were three goddesses who created the world; those goddesses were Din the goddess of power, Nayru the goddess of wisdom, and Farore the goddess of courage. Each one of them had a hand in creating each element of the world, such as the people, order, and so on. After their job was done, the goddesses departed, but left behind a final gift."

Zelda looked over and observed another specimen that was at a fair distance away. She took up her slate again.

"Three golden triangles. And together they formed the Triforce. And each one represented a trait: Power, Wisdom and Courage. It is said that whoever lays their land on the complete Triforce would be able to make a wish for whatever they desired. But the con of that is that the Triforce doesn't recognize evil or good. So anyone could wish for anything; whether it be for better or for worse."

Samus crossed her arms. She wasn't familiar with the concept of gods and magic, though the Chozo had their science intermingle with that of spirituality and spiritual energy. So, she could at least understand where the scholar was coming from.

"It was said that if someone with a heart that is 'unbalanced' touches the Triforce, then it would split into three pieces. Each one representing the virtues of the three goddesses; and if a person embodies a certain virtue of one of the Triforce, then they may come to possess it. Let's say…hmm…" Zelda thought for a moment. "Let's say a person embodies wisdom, or cherishes wisdom. Then they would most likely come to possess the Triforce of Wisdom. And so on. But that's just what the stories say. There could be other factors that nobody knew about. Not that I've seen the Triforce myself, or got confirmation that it's real."

"And yet it's something the inhabitants on your home planet seem to have these stories ingrained into their very minds and history…" Samus said.

Zelda nodded as she placed the slate to her side. "In a way, it can also be considered some sort of religion as well."

"And…you don't believe in it?" Samus asked.

The young blonde paused. "It's not that I don't believe in it. I do. It's just…I haven't been having the best of luck with prayers. So I need to work hard in order to move forward; simply praying and hoping won't do a thing if you don't work and move towards your goal."

Samus watched her charge carefully; she seemed a little tensed again but only for a brief moment. Zelda had been a bit reluctant to answer but when she did, the hunter sensed that her response was honest.

"And what about you? Did the inhabitants where you come from believed in such things? Did they have beliefs of something?" Zelda asked curiously.

The bounty hunter went silent again. Her mind began working again as she thought back to her younger days. The Chozo were very mysterious and technologically advanced compared to many others in the galaxy, the Luminoth from Aether may be a close second, and the former inhabitants of Alinos were also rather advanced.

The Chozo, however, had more than just science.

"Not exactly," Samus answered after a while. "I wouldn't really call it a belief, but it may be the closest thing. Where I was raised, everything they made was a combination of both the spirit and science. Maybe your planet is like that as well."

Zelda had a small smile on her lips. "It is. It's not always easy to understand, but I love learning more about it, and… It's just fascinating to me."

"And, that thing? On the back of your hand." Samus said, nodding at the young scholar's gloved hand.

The young scholar's eyes widened in shock as she turned to look at her companion. She held her right hand close to her chest and took a step back. "How did…?"

Samus kept her gaze on Zelda, not at all fazed by the reaction. "Is it that much of a big deal that you'd react that way? And to answer your question; I noticed it last night. You had your gloves off at one point."

Zelda sighed. "Sorry. It's just…nobody else really minded it, or rather, they couldn't really notice. It's just something that I did a couple of years ago."

With some slight hesitation, Zelda took her glove off, revealing her right hand and reaching it out to Samus to show her the back of it. Tattooed on the back of the young woman's hand were three triangles positioned together to form one large triangle, with the empty center forming yet another triangle that was upside down. The triangle on the lower left was more brightly colored and prominent compared to the two others.

"I got this tattoo back when I was still living on Hylia. It's…a form of comfort you might say. And, yes, this is what the Triforce is said to look like. There are also scriptures and images that all share the same shape and form." Zelda explained.

The hunter nodded. "You tattooed a holy goddess relic onto your hand?" She sounded rather amused. But meant no offense.

Zelda blushed slightly. "As I said; it's a form of comfort. As strange as that might sound. This one…" Her fingers stroked the lower left triangle. "…was said to be the Triforce of Wisdom. I was told if the Triforce was truly real, then Wisdom would be the piece that would come to me. I never believed it. The Triforce of Wisdom was made prominent on my tattoo because they say that it 'suited me'. That it speaks to me."

"They?" The hunter tilted her head.

Zelda nodded. "My friends, back home."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "Your friends tattooed that onto your hand?"

"One friend did. The others just agreed to make the Triforce of Wisdom the more…brighter part of my tattoo. And before you say anything; it wasn't because I lost a bet or that I was dared to. It's something of a personal moment." Zelda rubbed the back of her hand with a thumb.

Samus was silent for a moment before turning the other way and moving on ahead. "Come on. Stay close to me at all times."

The young scholar glanced up at the hunter before nodding and matching her pace as best as she could. Samus had a rather fast walk, even if she didn't notice it at some moments. But then again, being a deadly and trained warrior, it was probably to be expected.

"Mind if I ask you a question? If it's too personal, you may ignore it." Zelda said, glancing at her escort.

The hunter grunted in response and nodded. She was fine with some questions.

Zelda exhaled. "How is it you became a bounty hunter? What made you want to do this?"

Samus paused and looked down at the young woman, feeling unsure if it was a good idea to discuss such a topic. While the hunter had nothing to hide, her past was a rather difficult thing to talk about and even if she did answer, it would not be a story Zelda would enjoy hearing.

"It's alright. You don't need to answer; if it's too personal, then please, forget I asked." The scholar said, placing a reassuring hand on the hunter's arm cannon.

Samus nodded in thanks, placing her armored hand on top of Zelda's gloved one, letting her know that she appreciated the understanding. She would not mind answering, but it was something she'd rather not talk about. The hunter was glad the curious young woman didn't mind a refusal to her questions. Though, Samus was growing curious about something as well.

"What made you want to do what you're doing right now? I know I haven't answered your question, so you don't have to answer me back."

Zelda chuckled. "I don't mind. I just find research and science fascinating; I know, it is probably the most…unoriginal answer you may have heard. But I just…find such comfort in study and science. It's always there for me, without judgments, or expectations…"

"Speaking from experience?" Samus asked, and the young scholar's expression became unreadable.

Zelda suddenly became preoccupied with her Sheikah Slate. "So, what else is there for us discover here? Perhaps there are more missing pieces to be found."

Again, she was avoiding the question. Samus had noticed that Zelda never particularly answered the hunter's question about having a depressive mental state or not. And now the young woman was avoiding answering Samus when she had asked the Hylian if she was speaking from experience when she mentioned judgment and being pressured.

Not that it was any of her business. Poking her nose in others' personal lives was not part of the job.

"I think I may actually have some progress in analysing the pieces. I just need another portion or two and then Nayru might be able to identify it." Zelda said after a while.

Samus inwardly sighed but nodded in understanding. She did not mind working with Zelda on this, but now she was beginning to feel like the young woman was trying to push further because she was starting to panic on the inside. That was not good news for either of them; the planet could have potential hostiles, and Samus could not have her young charge suddenly breaking down without warning; what if she ran off blindly, or froze in place?

"I'm sorry, Samus." The Hylian apologized. "I know this must be frustrating for you to just follow me around while I am like this. Give me a moment and I'll be fine."

The bounty hunter said nothing more but she remained close to Zelda. Somehow, having witness the young woman breaking down last night made something stir in the hunter; a protective instinct that she never felt with other innocents she had to rescue or watch over. Perhaps it was because, in a way, she could relate to Zelda when it came to her own mind attacking her.

Despite having met many soldiers and even fellow bounty hunters, Zelda was probably the only one Samus had ever met so far, who has had such a breakdown. It reminded the hunter of her own night terrors, even if it was for different reasons. And someone like Zelda shouldn't be suffering whatever it was that was she was going through; she was so youthful and seemed so untainted by the same sort of darkness Samus had gone through.

* * *

"Damn this volcanic planet! Of all places the academy decides to send me. It's about as hot as Death Mountain…" The young scholar grumbled.

Samus raised an eyebrow at her words. Death Mountain sounded like an obvious place to stay away from; but with the way Zelda was speaking about this area, it was as if she had made some casual visits before. And it made the hunter wonder just what exactly this young scholar did during her spare time.

"I suppose you're wondering about Death Mountain now." Zelda said, as if reading the hunter's mind.

Samus neither confirmed nor denied it, merely shrugging as a response to the statement. It was not a big deal after all, though it was the first time she had heard of such a place.

"Well, it's basically a volcano. It's right where the Gorons live; they're one of the races that live on the same planet as I do. They're a species of creatures that eat rocks and are very likely made of rocks as well. Heat is nothing to them, and they have their own settlement called Goron City." The young scholar explained.

The hunter did wonder why anyone would go to such a place willingly.

Zelda seemed to sense the question. "Well…they have amazing hot springs."

That seemed to explain things. And if there was a volcano, it explains how and why there would be hot springs and why people in their right mind would travel to such a place. Though it still sounded a little crazy to the hunter, but then again she did meet crazier people and even those who had hired her for petty reasons.

"Well, if you're so intrigued, you could always visit Hylia. I may have left but it is a wonderful place; even if it has its own share of dangers. There's always something to explore and learn from there." Zelda said, a small smile forming. She forgot about the heat for a brief moment before she returned to herself and shook her head. "Anyway, shall we?"

Samus nodded in agreement. Perhaps one day she might travel to this planet, just to see for herself in order to quell a few curiosities; and who knows, maybe someone might need a bounty hunter for hire.

However, before either could make a move, a low rumbling made them pause. Samus whirled around to look at the lava, noticing it bubbling like an overheated stew. Immediately, the hunter placed herself in front of Zelda, blocking her from whatever may happen.

"Now what?" Zelda groaned both tiredly and in a frustrated manner; she had a feeling she may know what might come next.

As if confirming her suspicions, the lava began to rise, but rather than explode, it seemed to flow and spill downwards, revealing a large form that had been laying beneath the surface. Samus pointed her arm cannon at the creature while she held out her free arm to keep Zelda back. The young scholar frowned; she was beginning to see a pattern here.

Once the lava cleared off, it revealed a large, reptilian life form.

Behind the visor, Samus narrowed her eyes. She scanned and analysed the creature. Its body was bulky, its teeth sharp, and two red horns protruded from its head and red crystal-like spikes poked out from its back. It walked on all fours towards the pair, eyeing them as if it had found something tasty to snack on. It was probably the case.

Her scans showed that the beast was able to withstand and live in such hot temperatures, and was capable of burning foes with a fiery breath. The visor displayed a graph of the creature's anatomy.

Slowly, it approached them, rising out of the lake of lava, the hot substance slid down its scaly yellow body as if it were water.

"A King Dodongo!" Zelda exclaimed. "Somehow…I feel as if this should not be surprising now."

Her words made Samus whirl around to stare at her in disbelief. What had gotten into this girl now? The hunter was turned her attention the creature. Was this yet another beast that the Hylian knew about? The bounty hunter knew for certain this type of creature was not of this planet; she had seen all Alinos had to offer, and this 'king dodongo' as Zelda had called it, was not one of them.

The moment it rose to its full height, the large dodongo let out a roar and charged at the two.

Immediately, Samus reacted, taking hold of Zelda in her arms and leaping out of the way, right over the reptile's head, and landing on the other side. The creature realized too late that it had lost sight of its prey, and skidded to a halt, only to smack its head into a wall.

Setting Zelda down, Samus turned and pointed her cannon at her opponent, ready to blast it into oblivion.

"You don't happen to have any bombs on your person, do you?" Zelda asked, keeping her eyes on the dodongo as it recovered from its little mishap.

"What?" The hunter looked at her charge as if she had gone completely insane. What did she need bombs for? Or was she implying that Samus needed to use bombs on this creature? She did have her Morphball Bombs, as well as her Power Bombs; but the latter was too powerful and deadly to use compared to the Morphball Bombs, especially with Zelda around in the immediate vicinity.

She didn't have time to think about it as the enormous dodongo came charging at them again, its maw gaping wide open.

Zelda gasped as Samus suddenly shoved her out of the way while the hunter herself leapt in another direction. Once they both looked up, the reptilian creature was what stood between the now-separated pair.

The King Dodongo growled and shook its head before setting its sights on the young scholar, its pupils dilating as it shifted and began stomping towards the young woman. Realizing its intentions, Samus rushed at the beast and shot a missile at the dodongo. It snarled but ignored the armored warrior, more eager to go after what it perceived as the weaker, easier prey.

Zelda ran as fast as she could, feeling the earth shaking beneath her feet as the monster chased her. When she glanced over her shoulder, she felt her blood run cold when the dodongo suddenly curled up into a ball and began rolling after her. In this state, the reptilian creature was much faster.

Samus felt a sense of urgency overtake her. The intruder beast was gaining on Zelda fast, and the hunter had to intervene before the young scholar got hurt or worse.

"Samus, please tell me you have…an explosive—such as a bomb—at your disposal…!" Zelda panted as she ran. She was sure that her escort may be confused as to why she was asking such a thing, but it was of the utmost importance when dealing with this creature.

"I can't use it when you're in the vicinity! It's too dangerous!" Samus called out as she rushed at the rolling dodongo and fired a super missile in order to distract a bit.

Zelda stumbled a bit but she kept going. "No! Inside! You need to throw something inside!"

" _Inside?"_ What in the world was she talking about?

Samus finally caught the beast's attention with a couple of blasts from her super missiles. The King Dodongo uncurled itself and roared loudly, feeling irritated at the hunter for getting in the way of its pursuit. It inhaled deeply and Samus could see a bright inferno glowing at the back of the beast's throat.

Inside… Was this what Zelda meant?

Taking aim, Samus shot another super missile into the dodongo's gaping mouth before it could spit out any flaming attacks. The reptile gulped before twitching and stuttering from having swallowed a missile. The move seemed rather effective, but the reptile kept coming back for more.

"Use a bomb!" Zelda called out.

Samus grunted. "Not when you're in the area!"

"No! Not in the area! In the King Dodongo's mouth! Throw a bomb into it's…!" Before she could finish her sentence, the reptilian creature turned its attention back to her. Zelda looked at it wearily before she began to sprint off once more.

Images flashed through the bounty hunter's head as Zelda mentioned throwing a bomb in the creature's mouth. It reminded her of her mission on SR388, when dealing with a certain Queen Metroid. And it was not the first time she had encountered a Queen Metroid. The dodongo must work in a similar way.

Zelda was quickly burning out from both the heat of the area, and the tiredness she was beginning to feel from running away from the dodongo. "Please! Any moment now, while I still live!"

Samus rushed forward, her speed picking up until she was dashing at impossible speeds. She rammed her armor's rounded shoulder against the dodongo's side, catching it off guard and disorienting it slightly and getting it off balance for a moment. Swiftly, she ran up until she was facing the front of the beast and shot her grapple beam at the reptilian creature.

Hearing the commotion behind her, Zelda turned in time to see Samus shooting some sort of white beam at the King Dodongo; the beam latched onto one of the beast's fangs. The scholar gasped in shock as Samus shot forward, flying right into the King Dodongo's gaping mouth.

"Samus!" Zelda cried out in dismay. What had she been thinking?

The dodongo stopped moving and licked its lips, as if trying to process what had just happened and what it had just swallowed. After a moment, the creature seemed to snap back to its senses before a loud grumbling sound came from its stomach.

Eyes going wide as her ears twitched to the sound, Zelda rushed off, ducking behind the nearest rock just as the King Dodongo let out an awful screech, followed by a loud explosion and it's body turned into nothing but chunks as it was exploded from the inside of its very bowels.

Zelda remained still for a moment and then nearly jumped out of her skin when the head of the reptile beast landed over at her hiding spot, right in front of her. She scrambled away from the body part and looked over to where the remains were now scattered about.

She winced; while she had some classes that had her and other students study the anatomy of alien creatures, hands-on, seeing it like this just felt a little nauseating.

When she finally regained enough composure to look up, she saw the bounty hunter rising up from the remains. Samus didn't look like she was injured, and her armor had no visible damage on it, except from a few scuffs and smudges from being inside the dodongo.

The hunter looked around to see the remains around her, before her sights landed on her charge. It seems Zelda had managed to avoid sustaining any sort of injury despite the hunter using her Power Bomb. Then again, being inside the King Dodongo probably softened the blow a bit since the reptilian creature had taken the brunt of it.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Zelda yelled. "Tossing yourself into the beast's maw like that! You could have gotten digested or worse!"

Samus felt a tinge of amusement as the young scholar stomped over to her, scolding her about the stunt she had pulled. The hunter was used to such dangers and she had dealt with far worse than some dodongo. Still, this was the first time anyone has scolded her for being a little too daring or reckless.

Zelda caught her breath and sighed. "Are you hurt?"

The hunter shook her head, but was caught off guard when Zelda just began to look her over, checking to see if there was any damage on her armor.

"What about on the inside? No damage to your body?" She asked again.

Samus felt a little confused at the fact that somebody was being this concerned over her physical well-being. Still, she shook her head to reassure her charge that everything was well, including her insides. The important part was that Zelda was safe and that she had not gotten hurt by the creature.

The young scholar seemed to buckle in relief, and then shook her head, looking dismayed. "Why does this keep happening? First Norion, and now this…"

Samus frowned as she helped her charge back onto her feet. She had to agree that running into two different creatures that was not of the planets they were currently in, was enough for the hunter's mind to run over the different possibilities. She was certain it had to do with Space Pirates, but as to how these creatures managed to make it onto foreign planets… That was another matter.

As Zelda got her bearings, she noticed the lava was beginning to rise up again and she tensed as another King Dodongo roared and lunged at them.

Before Samus could retaliate, Zelda rushed forward. The hunter's eyes widened in disbelief and she whirled around in an attempt to stop her from doing anything reckless. Suddenly, a glowing, spherical object, the size of a basketball, suddenly materialized in her hands. Samus paused upon seeing the glowing ball, unsure of what she was seeing.

Zelda hastily tossed it into the beast's gaping mouth and the dodongo swallowed.

Samus looked at the Hylian and saw that she was holding up the Sheikah Slate. Her thumb was hovering over the screen of the device as she stared up at the dodongo. Something clicked inside the hunter's head and she realized what her charge was up to.

Acting quickly. She grabbed Zelda, lifting her up in her arms, causing the Hylian to gasp. Samus ran a little farther from the snarling dodongo as Zelda pressed her thumb down on the screen of her Sheikah Slate.

Before it could chase them, the new dodongo let out a growl as a grumbling sounded off and its body exploded on the inside. The beast growled and keeled over from the blast. However, unlike the first King Dodongo, the beast merely fell lifeless.

Sensing the danger had passed, finally, Samus put Zelda down and scanned the area for any more nasty surprises. Once she felt that nothing was out of the ordinary, she looked at the dead, and intact dodongo, and then at Zelda.

"I…may have skipped over another little application that Nayru has…" The Hylian woman said sheepishly. "Well…two, actually. But it's counted as one."

Samus gave her a look from behind her visor. Materializing a _bomb_ from nowhere was not something one would call 'little'.

"Yes, my Sheikah Slate does come with Remote Bombs. It's not something I installed; the device had it already when I restored it!" Zelda defended, holding the slate to her chest. "At any rate, you're the one who overdid it when you blew up the first King Dodongo!"

Samus sighed and shook her head. "A warning would have been sufficient."

"I _did_ say to use a bomb," Zelda retorted, giving her escort a huffy expression.

So that was what Zelda was trying to say. At least their little messy communication—which was more of yelling at each other across the way—did not cost them anything. However, it did not change the fact that this creature seemed to be something the Hylian woman was familiar with as well.

Sensing the hunter's question, Zelda approached the corpse. "Yes. This monster is from Hylia as well. They're known to reside in caves and volcanic environments… Like this planet."

A king dodongo, while dangerous like any beast, was not as much of a threat compared to a lynel. But it was still unnerving that these creatures from her home planet were not where they should be. Zelda stepped closer to the corpse and lifted her slate, pointing the eye at it. The image appeared on the screen of the slate as it scanned the anatomy of the King Dodongo.

Samus glanced in her direction before she looked at the body as well and her scanners got to work.

As both the bounty hunter and her charge analysed every bit that they could, Zelda could not help but feel something was off. She stared at the results the Sheikah Slate provided, and frowned.

"Something isn't right." Zelda moved over to the gaping mouth of the dead beast and got a closer look.

Samus tensed and walked over to prevent her charge from walking too near to the corpse. One could never be too sure if a creature would have some sort of last minute spasms after death. She did not want to risk her charge getting bitten in half because the dodongo had an after-death-spasm.

"Samus? What do you make of this?" The young scholar asked, pointing at something inside the dodongo's mouth.

Puzzled, the hunter approached and took a look at what Zelda seemed to be staring at. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for signs of burns from the bomb that exploded from the inside of the creature's body. But, upon closer inspection, Samus did notice something.

It was not obvious at first, but now that she got a good look, there seemed to be a sort of black spot on roof of the king dodongo's mouth. While Samus never encountered this creature before, even she could tell this sort of discoloration was just not normal.

"Doesn't it look a little familiar?" Zelda said, looking as if she had pieced something together but has yet to confirm it.

The young scholar looked at her slate again and began tapping and sliding her finger along the screen before showing it to Samus. On the screen was an image of the Blastcap that Samus had incapacitated for Zelda to study. The Hylian then swiped her finger on the screen to show another image; this time it was a close-up of the odd black-looking spores that had been inside the mushroom life-form. It looked very similar to the black spot inside of the King Dodongo.

"I'm beginning to assume it may be an infection. Either that, or this King Dodongo may have been in contact with an infected Blastcap and so it received whatever these black spores are. If it is some sort of infection, then infected by what, I am unsure." Zelda mused, her eyes still on the corpse.

Samus' visor locked onto the black spore and scanned it. It did seem like some sort of infection, but there was no other information she could get from her scans. However, she was growing and more confident in the fact that the incident with the lynel was no coincidence. But what would the Space Pirates from dumping foreign creatures onto planets they did not belong in? And by some strange, and almost eerie coincidence, the creatures they had encountered so far were all from the planet, Hylia. The very planet Zelda was from.

This all seemed like a very sad coincidence as well; while it had been useful that she knew how to deal with these creatures that she surely had studied about when she had been in her home planet, it surely was not a very happy experience for Zelda to have; seeing these things from home only to have them attack and then to see Samus to blow them up right before her eyes.

But this was the final planet, and then the young scholar would be safe and sound again, back at her home in Daiban. And then Samus would hunt down information on the Space Pirate ship that had fled from Norion, and deal with them.

"You don't think…all this is connected…?" Zelda muttered, staring at her Sheikah Slate. She still had the sample of the Blastcap, but to see a King Dodongo with a similar black spot just like the mushroom life form was a little cause for concern; it was possible something infected both these organisms, or perhaps something was happening to Blastcaps that it could spread infection to other creatures.

Samus shook her head at the Hylian and gestured that they should leave. Zelda shouldn't get any deeper into this. It was Samus' job to do that, not this young innocent student.

Zelda frowned and opened her mouth to protest, but then sighed in defeat. Perhaps it was for the best; but the least she could do was be of some help while she was still here. She knew that this was something that a bounty hunter should be concerned with, but then again, nobody has ever hired Samus to go after the Space Pirates and figure out while creatures from Hylia were on different planets.

Again, it was something else that the young scholar had noticed about her escort. Samus didn't act like the conventional bounty hunter. She seemed to be going after the pirates even when nobody called for her to do it; it was merely because she sensed something was amiss. It made Zelda feel a little more respectful towards Samus.

"Well, at least let me share what I managed to gather up with the Sheikah Slate. It might help you." She suggested.

Samus looked at her carefully, considering the idea first before she nodded in agreement. It would be helpful to add whatever Zelda had gathered, to what information Samus had so far. If the Space Pirates were planning on spreading something, then she was more than willing to put a stop to it before it could get out of control.

Zelda straightened and before she could say any more to Samus, the sounds of spaceships caught their attention.

The duo looked up to see ships coming in for a landing through the opening above the area they were currently in. It may cause the one piloting the ship some trouble as there was lava in the area. Nevertheless, the ship moved until it found a stable spot to land on.

Samus' visor zoomed in and spotted the logo. _"The Galactic Federation."_

Zelda frowned at the sight, apparently she had noticed the logo printed onto the ship. What were they doing here? While she had nothing against the Federation, or their soldiers, they did tend to be rather troublesome for the students studying in the science department. They also tended to be rather bull-headed.

The platform of the ship lowered and several armored soldiers ran out. One of them noticed the bounty hunter and the Hylian, and paused. The soldier then approached them and waved in a friendly manner.

"Hey there, Princess! Didn't expect to see you here!" He greeted the bounty hunter.

The voice was familiar to Zelda. However, it seemed Samus knew that voice all too well, and she relaxed. The scholar looked up at her escort, then at the soldier's visor. He pressed the side of his helmet and the visor lifted, revealing his face. Zelda relaxed as well.

"Don't tell me this is one of your little field study sites," Anthony said, looking at Zelda in disbelief.

The young woman nodded. "It was assigned to me, yes. In fact this is the last one."

Anthony frowned slightly after she said that, however he regained his composure and his expression turned serious. He still had his duties to tend to, but Zelda was a civilian and he felt the need to make sure she was fine.

Samus remained by her charge's side at all times, and it surprised Anthony to see that the hunter wasn't wandering off to do her own investigating, regardless of whether she had someone to guard or not. That was how Aran worked; she was stoic and melancholic, focused on a task if there was something urgent on the rise. It did not matter to her if she was in the middle of babysitting someone.

Yet here she was, standing still and keeping a close eye on the young woman. Zelda herself, while she seemed rather apprehensive, was fine and had no signs of injury, save for a few scuffs, and dirt on her clothes.

"Well, me and the boys were sent here after we were alerted to some sort of 'anomaly'. Shoulda known you'd be here too, Princess." Anthony said to Samus in a friendly manner.

The hunter shrugged and looked at Zelda again, then back at Anthony.

As if he realized what she was trying to say, the soldier glanced over at his comrades.

They were walking towards the corpse of the King Dodongo and examining it carefully. So, this was the anomaly they had been sent to check out. But it seems that they had been a little late as a certain someone had already dealt with the threat. Nevertheless, they would have to investigate the scene very closely for anything else that might be out of the ordinary.

Finally, Anthony returned his attention to Zelda. "Well little lady, we're here and all, we can drop you off back at the academy once we're done here."

"I…" Zelda was taken aback by the offer. She looked up at Samus, feeling quite hesitant. She had left Daiban with the hunter, and so she had expected she would be returning with the hunter as well. But circumstances seemed to have changed that.

Samus looked down at Zelda, her expression hidden behind the visor. And while Zelda now knew there was a truly person underneath the armor, she could not help but feel quite reluctant to part with her escort now. It surprised even her; they had only been with each other for a couple of days but during those times, the incidents they had encountered had somehow turned them into rather good aquaintances. And Zelda had come to feel comfortable and safe in Samus' presence.

The hunter sensed her charge's reluctance to accept Adam's offer to let him and the other Federation soldiers bring her back to Daiban, since that was where they would be returning to anyway. Samus felt a little bad for just dumping her in someone else's care, but she trusted Adam and it was a much safer option.

As if she realized what the bounty hunter's decision was, Zelda lowered her gaze. It was not her place to decide who drops her back at the academy. Samus' job had been to escort her to the assigned planets, and she had done all that and more. There was nothing left she needed to do, and Samus did not need to drop Zelda off, especially if the hunter had a target to chase.

"We'll be here a while so…go ahead and do what you need to. I'll be around." Anthony said, sensing a bit of tension rising.

The hunter and the scholar looked at him before they both nodded in agreement.

* * *

The two had managed to make it back to Samus' gunship, however neither could get the tension out of their system. After the attack from two King Dodongos, the bounty hunter felt that it was no longer safe for Zelda. The sooner she got her charge back safe to Daiban, the better.

Zelda had gone back to studying the Blastcap while it still remained fresh enough for her to get a proper analysis on it. She glanced over at the hunter who seemed to be staring far off into nothing and was deep in thought.

This field study certainly became more than the Hylian had bargained for; she did not expect to be with someone like Samus, and she especially did not expect such dangerous situations to happen. First on the ship, Crest, and then the lynel that invaded Norion along with the fleeing Space Pirate vessel. It was definitely not something Zelda had expected would happen especially when all she had intended was to move forward with her studies.

She knew better than to get involved in something dangerous, but be that as it may, Zelda was not one to simply stand by especially if she felt that she may be of some help, no matter how small. She just felt more useful that way…

Once she was certain that she had gathered all she could from the specimen she had, Zelda exhaled and looked over at her escort. Samus had been a big help, and the least the young scholar could do was offer some assistance.

"Samus…?"

The bounty hunter turned to look at the Hylian and she tilted her head in question.

"I have completed my requirements for my field studies. And…I can share some of the information with you; it may be of some help to you while you…go off on your regular duties." Zelda cleared her throat. "If you would let me. I believe I owe you that much, at least."

Samus shook her head, letting Zelda know she didn't owe her anything. Though the assistance would be appreciated indeed, and it would be better than to having the young scholar involved with Samus' hunt of Space Pirates.

"How well do you know that man?" Zelda asked after a moment of silence.

The hunter blinked. "Anthony?"

Zelda only nodded. Samus had a feeling that the Hylian just was not comfortable being around new people, or people she considered strangers. After all, Zelda took a bit open to Samus and she had been guarded at first. However, the hunter knew Anthony well. She knew the young scholar would be safe with him of all people.

"He's…a friend." Samus replied.

Zelda nodded. "I see. Then I suppose there's no harm in taking him up on his offer, if you trust him."

The hunter was not sure why she felt bad, but remembering seeing the young scholar have a breakdown, she could understand why she would not feel safe with someone she was not fully familiar with. The Hylian was cautious despite being polite and social enough. She had a bit of an introverted streak and Samus could understand why she would be reluctant.

"Anthony will look after you. He's a good man." Samus reassured her.

"I'm sorry. I'm just being childish, I know. I'll be heading back with the Federation soldiers so… Ah, but you'll be paid for your efforts, right?"

Samus shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

"But—"

The bounty hunter pressed a finger to the young blonde's lips.

Getting the message, Zelda just sighed in defeat. Instead she stepped closer to Samus and lifted her Sheikah Slate. "May I?"

Samus nodded and extended her arm cannon in response. She watched as Zelda tapped away at the Sheikah Slate, transferring the useful data she had gathered onto Samus' database. Once the data had been received, Samus looked at her cannon and gave a thumbs up, letting Zelda know she had received everything without any errors. The young scholar smiled softly.

"Well…I suppose this is farewell. I hope everything goes well for you." Zelda said softly, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

A long silence followed, and neither of them moved for a while. Samus had many jobs like this before, but, again, Zelda was very much unlike many others she had met. The bounty hunter never felt reluctant to leave someone behind after her escort job was done, and yet with Zelda she could not help but feel concerned. She had seen this young woman in a vulnerable state and she even opened her heart a tiny bit to Samus. And then there were those incidents where she had gotten herself involved even if she would have been much safer staying back.

Suddenly remembering something, Samus held up a finger and went back into her gunship, much to Zelda's puzzlement.

Samus came out of her ship after a moment. She leapt down and jogged over to Zelda, putting something in the Hylian's hands. It felt soft yet a little stiff, and crumpled up.

Zelda looked at her hand to see what the hunter had put in there. She blinked and she stared in surprise; it was the handkerchief that she had used to wipe the soda off of Samus' armor. By the looks of it, the hunter had done her best to wash it and its stiffness was an indication that it had just dried off. It was a nice effort.

With a small smile, Zelda shook the handkerchief and straightened it as best as she could before she took a step forward. She reached out and took Samus' arm cannon, wrapping the handkerchief around the elbow section. The action surprised the hunter and she looked at the young scholar in confusion.

"You keep it. A little souvenir, if you will. I know it means nothing to you, but I think it might be useful if you ever have another accidental spills." Zelda said with a chuckle.

Samus thought to protest, but seeing the earnest expression in the Hylian's eyes, she could not bring herself to do so. In a way, it was a rather nice gesture and it was one Samus never experienced before. It felt quite awkward but at the same time, Zelda made it rather…easy.

Finally, the two had to part ways. Zelda looked over her shoulder at the hunter, pausing in mid-step for brief moment before she turned away and headed off to meet with the Federation soldiers.

Samus watched her leave until the young scholar was no longer in her sights. With a tired sigh, the hunter turned to her ship and jump onto the vessel and stepped onto the platform. She was brought back inside her ship and immediately made for the cockpit.

She was not sure where she would head to at the moment, but her first priority was to find more information of the incident at Norion. Whatever the Space Pirates were up to, she would not allow the plans to continue.

* * *

Zelda managed to make her way to the site where the Federation soldiers were.

As expected, the ship was still there, and so were the soldiers. She sighed and walked towards the ship, and Anthony, who noticed her approaching. He smiled in greeting and Zelda merely nodded. Samus had said he was a good friend, and though she was reluctant to interact with someone she did not know personally or wasn't too sure of, she at least felt Samus that someone worth trusting. And so it was because of that, she would do her best to trust Anthony Higgs.

As soon as she got close to him, however, she noticed something in her peripheral vision. Zelda looked over and her eyes widened in disbelief.

She could see the other soldiers rolling something along, something covered in a large cloth. Zelda frowned when she easily recognized the shape under the cloth. The soldiers were bringing in the dead King Dodongo into the ship.

"Hey, you okay?" Anthony asked before following her gaze. He sighed. "I know what you're feeling. I feel the same way, but…"

"There's not really anything you can do about this, especially if it was a direct order from a superior." Zelda finished for him. She looked up at Anthony, her expression was unreadable but it was clear she was not pleased by what she was seeing.

Anthony pat the young scholar on the shoulder. "Come on, little lady. Let's get you home, eh?"

Before Zelda could respond, the sound of another spaceship. Both Anthony and Zelda looked up in time to see that rather distinctive gunship soaring overhead, leaving the planet. For some reason the sight of that gunship leaving made Zelda feel quite down, oddly enough.

She shook her head and straightened before following Anthony inside the Federation ship.

Anthony, unlike his fellow soldiers, was more polite and friendly the entire journey back to Daiban. Though he still remained a vigilant soldier, and though he did not need to, he kept Zelda company while the other soldiers just focused on making a report and guarding the corpse they had brought back with them and kept in the ship's hold.

"Why aren't you with the others?" The young scholar asked, keeping her glance trained at the other soldiers.

Anthony shrugged his arms crossed. "They've got it covered. Besides, someone's gotta look after the civilian, and I did tell Aran you'd be in good hands. But I gotta say; I'm surprised she took to you this quick."

Zelda blinked, unsure if she heard correctly. "Pardon?"

"Aran's hard to read, even for me. But I could tell she wasn't sure if she should leave you with us, and that sure is something. Usually, if a job is done, she's quick to head off for the next bounty. Especially if it means she gets to singe some Space Pirates. Never takes the time to say goodbye, that one. She's a good guy though, don't misunderstand. But I've never seen her act this friendly towards someone." Anthony explained with a small smile.

"Friendly? How are you so certain she was being friendly?" While Zelda knew she was good at reading a person, even one like Samus, she still felt rather uncertain about the bounty hunter being friendly towards her. True, they had been amicable with each other, especially after the incident on the Crest and Zelda's sudden panic attack. But it could have been just the circumstance and nothing more than drove them to properly get along.

Anthony seemed to notice her expression, and saw that her mind was racing and calculating everything as if what he had just said was a big, unsolvable equation. It made him laugh, but in a good-natured manner.

"No need to overthink it, little lady! Aran and I kinda go way back; she used to be one of us. A soldier of the Federation. But…she never did well with authority or authority figures," He chuckled, "She's still a great ally to have, and I like to think of her as a good friend. She's gotten me out of near-death situations before and she's a good listener. Though she did used to talk more back then, but not anymore it seems. What I'm trying to say is…she never stays in one place for too long; once a job is over, she's off to the next one. But she seemed kinda reluctant to leave you alone."

Zelda shrugged, not wanting to read too much into it. "Possibly because I may be quite pathetic."

Anthony shook his head. "Hey now, don't pull yourself down like that. I've seen her have to guard even the most pathetic assholes in this universe for a handsome fee, and she always walks off once she feels she's done her part. Heck, even if someone isn't that bad of a person, she leaves them behind without so much as a 'see ya'! Maybe she thinks you're someone worth talking to."

"Forgive my rudeness, Mister Higgs— Anthony. That all sounds like a complete exaggeration. I thank you for being encouraging to me but that all sounds a little much." Zelda said, giving the tall man a look.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe I make it sounds that way. But it's the truth; that's just how Aran is. I was expecting her to just turn heel and leave but she didn't; she was wondering if you'd be okay. Even if…I couldn't see her face. That makes her harder to read. Heh. Always covering up that face of hers. But it's always been that way."

"Well…she's been very…polite. And noble." Zelda admitted.

"Not like the usual bounty hunter, eh?" Anthony chuckled again. "Well, she still needs her pay, of course. Gotta make a living right? But I'm sure you've seen that other side of her. Y'know…the more noble side."

Zelda merely shrugged. She felt like she wasn't being a very good conversationalist, but Anthony did not seem to mind. He remained quiet when he noticed she was no longer in a talking mood. He went to speak with his comrades, and he turned stern and serious. When the Hylian looked over, she noticed how the others just either shrugged or waved off whatever concerns he had. Anthony would glance at Zelda a few times before rolling his eyes at his fellow soldiers. He looked like he was scolding or warning them, but aside from that, nothing seemed off.

He returned to Zelda's side and just stayed there, letting her know he was around if she needed someone.

As Samus had said; he was a good man. And Zelda was beginning to see that throughout the trip. Her mind was beginning to grow cluttered with unwanted thoughts but when she thought she might suddenly experience another panic attack, Anthony would speak, make casual small-talk of light topics that actually kept her mind far from anything troublesome. In a way, Zelda wondered if he somehow knew that she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. But it was surely unlikely. Surely…

Anthony pat her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts again. "Well, better get yourself some rest. You look just about ready to just drop."

"Do I?" Zelda said tiredly, her eyes half-lidded and expression quite uncaring. Perhaps the days' events had finally caught up to her.

"You can use the cabins we have onboard. Don't worry; I'll let you know once we're back at Daiban." He reassured her, helping Zelda to her feet.

The young scholar could only nod. She touched the Sheikah Slate at her side before she left the room and headed for the cabins. She felt rather sluggish now, and perhaps it was partially due to it finally sinking in that she was now on her way back.

Tiredly, she entered one of the cabins and collapsed onto the bed. At her hip, the Sheikah Slate remained, its eye continuing to glow blue as always.

* * *

 **I feel happy that I had finally managed to finish this chapter. I was quite stuck for a while and my motivation and inspiration was just on the down low. It feels nice to just write without stopping every so often because of a block. Hopefully I can keep going for a bit longer.**

 **Thank you for reading Hunter and Scholar; it's still too early to say this but I am glad you readers enjoy this story that had started out as a simple scenario in my head that grew stronger until the urge to write it out overtook me.**

 **As a reminder; the Zelda in this story is the Zelda from Breath of the Wild. I felt like that Zelda is more fitting for this kind of story scenario and seeing as how I can work with her character to make her a stand out a bit among my other choices of Zelda. But either way I always try my best to depict any of my choice of Zeldas, in the best way possible and make each of them unique from each other in their own way.**

 **So now it seems both the hunter and the scholar are done with each other. But are they really? We'll have to see. Thank you for enjoying this chapter and stay awesome!**

 **Until then…**


	7. Chapter 7: Routine

**Chapter 7: Routine**

Zelda frowned as she sat across from Adam Malkovich's desk.

Once they had landed on Daiban, one of the Federation soldiers had approached her and told her to meet with the commander the moment she had stepped off the ship. Anthony had berated the man for being rather impolite, but agreed to escort her to Malkovich's office.

Now she sat here, her eyes narrowed at the older man in front of her. He remained collected despite her glare.

"I am not here to interrogate you, Miss Zelda. I merely wished to ask if you are well; after all, Aran had been my recommendation. Though I have full confidence in her, I wish to hear your side as well." Adam said calmly, watching the young woman carefully.

The only thing on Zelda's mind at the moment was how she wanted to be home at the moment. She had gotten very little sleep onboard the Federation ship and now she wanted nothing more than to lie down on her own bed before returning to her classes the next day.

"All went well. Sam— Aran had done her job well. So, there's really no reason for me to be here." Zelda said as politely as she could. Though she felt quite drained for some reason; that was not a good sign. She would be better off back at her abode, away from prying eyes.

"That is good to know. I also understand that during your little excursion, you've have some…incidents? Have you sustained any injuries at all?" Adam asked. Despite his stern face, his eyes had some concern.

"There was. It was unexpected, but nothing too terrible had happened to me. If anything, Aran had taken care of it effectively." Zelda said, straightening in her seat and placing her hands on her lap.

Adam nodded. "Yes. We've received word from the Crest a while back, detailing the space pirate attack. Though it seems Samus had not been the only one onboard, dealing with the pirates."

Zelda tensed. "I was just…"

"Something about 'one of the crates flying into and crushing the pirate boss'." The commander eyed the young woman across from him. When he had first heard that report, he wondered if the man on the other side had grown hysterical. Until he mentioned a teenager who came out nowhere, but seemed to be acquainted with 'that crazy bounty hunter', and left with said hunter."

"I had gotten concerned, and I admit I may not have thought things through." Zelda admitted, but she remained calm but wondered what was going on in the commander's mind.

Anthony chuckled. "But to toss a huge metal crate at a Space Pirate boss? Those suckers are huge, and so are those crates!"

The young scholar cleared her throat. "I didn't throw anything. I just…found a mechanism that enabled me to toss a crate the pirate's way." Her fingers twitched subtle, resisting the urge to place her hand over the Sheikah Slate. "In any case, Aran did nothing to endanger me."

"From what I understand from some of these other reports, you and Aran have encountered life-forms that aren't native to the planets." Adam said, glancing at the paperwork at his desk.

Zelda frowned deeply and the commander sighed. He stood up and paced slowly.

"Miss Zelda, I understand you feel like I am interrogating you. But as I said; I am not. What we speak of here in my office will only be between the three of us. There is a reason I chose Aran to watch over you, and part of it is because I know her. And since you were under her care, I'd like to make sure both of you had not had any terrible mishaps. I know you have no reason to trust what I am saying, especially since I know you have seen the specimen that the men had brought in."

"What do they plan to do with that King Dodongo?" Her words came out much harsher than she intended, and Zelda winced upon hearing her own tone.

Anthony and Adam glanced at each other. They knew better than to say too much; this young woman was just a civilian, not someone who should get involved in something that might become too deep for her to get out of.

"All I can say is, the corpse will be examined so that we may be able to determine the cause of all this. If there even was one to begin with," The commander said seriously.

Zelda exhaled. "Those creatures…they shouldn't be able to know how to travel from one planet to another. Unless someone dropped them off."

"Wait. You saying that maybe someone captured them from their native environment and perhaps just dumped them onto Norion and Alinos?" Anthony asked, his eyes wide in disbelief. It did not sound too farfetched, but who would want to carry such exotic beast and then leave them somewhere?

"Miss Zelda," Adam said somberly, "I think it would be best if you return to your usual routine before all this happened. Anything can happen in this universe and it is in our best interest that you remain safe and away from something that can potentially cause you to become involved in something far beyond your league. I say this, not as commander but as someone who would rather not see an innocent be taken away for no reason."

"If it makes you feel any better, we'll take into account what you just said. We may not be scientists, but we'll do our best." Anthony reassured.

Adam gave his companion a look, but did not bother scolding him. Perhaps the reassurance might calm the young woman down. "Furthermore, there is no need for you to worry about Aran. Her efforts will be rewarded as always. I can tell you were concerned about that."

She rubbed the back of her neck, beginning to feel rather physically sore. "She had helped me a lot, so I would hope so."

Adam nodded in understanding and agreement. He watched Zelda carefully, observing her body language. He could see, first and foremost, that she was exhausted. Not just physically, but mentally as well. By the weary look in her eyes, Adam knew she didn't want to be in his office any longer than she needed to be. "I know this may crossing lines a bit. But may I ask; has anything else happened?"

"Aside from the incidents? Nothing." Zelda insisted, staring right at Anthony in an attempt not to show how worn out she was. Finally, she stood up. "If you'll please excuse me. I really need to head home. Good day."

As she headed for the door, the commander spoke again, making her stop in her tracks with his next question.

"And Aran? How was she?" Adam's eyes seemed to have a spark of concern in them.

Zelda was quiet again for a moment before she exhaled. The commander did say he knew Samus, so it should not be a surprised he wanted to know if she was doing well. "She's fine. In great shape, and…she's nice."

Anthony grinned and Adam merely nodded. "That's good to know. I am quite worried about her health; she tends to push herself too far and takes a toll on her overall health."

"… Why tell me all this? Shouldn't this be a private thought?" Zelda asked, her eyes narrowing a bit as she turned to look at the two men in the room.

Adam nodded. "True. But I feel it best to share this with you; call it intuition. Mine has never failed me before, and I have a feeling you have may…learned a thing or two about Aran."

He was not wrong, she had to admit. It gave her a feeling that he may be guessing that she had seen Samus' actual face. And considering the fact that he knew Samus in the past, he likely knew her face. The Hylian rubbed her temples.

"I have," was the only response she gave.

"She must have come to trust you to some degree." Adam commented. "She is not trying to hide her identity; she is just more comfortable that way. But if she willingly let you _see_ her, then it is possible she is quite comfortable around you."

Silently, Zelda thought that the feeling was mutual. It had been only a couple of days when she was placed under Samus' care, and in that time, she felt became comfortable around the silent hunter. And if what Adam was saying was true, then Samus might have felt the same to the point that she actually spoke out loud to the Hylian.

"She's been easy to work with, that much I'll say." Zelda said. But she did appreciate Samus' presence more than she let on. While she was sure Adam Malkovich had good intentions, she didn't trust him _that_ much. As far as she was concerned, he was still very much a stranger to her.

Sensing that she was done talking, Adam nodded. "Thank you for taking your time to see me, Miss Zelda. You may go. Rest well."

Zelda nodded in thanks and walked out the door.

The young scholar leaned against the wall once she was out in the hall. She could not wait to get home; tomorrow would be another day at the academy but on this day, she had been allowed to take time off after her field studies. Zelda gave herself a moment to breathe before she pushed away from the wall and headed off.

* * *

The walk home helped clear Zelda's mind until she finally returned to her housing unit.

Zelda sighed tiredly when she entered her abode, and looked around. It seemed everything was in order. That was good. All she wanted to do at the moment was rest, despite the little work she wanted to get done; she still have to fully identify the three scraps Samus had helped her discover.

As the young scholar walked into her living room, something jumped onto her shoulder and she gaped before relaxing and chuckled when she saw who the culprit was.

"Jonesy. Don't scare me like that. Did you miss me?" Zelda cooed gently.

The orange kitten purred as he rubbed his head up against the side of Zelda's neck, his back arching in a pleased manner in response. Zelda giggled at the tickling sensation and picked the little feline off of her shoulder.

"Are you hungry?"

Jonesy meowed in response, and his purring got louder. The kitten continued to rub his head against the Hylian's neck while Zelda walked into the kitchen to grab a can of cat food.

Sensing that it was finally time to get fed, Jonesy hopped off of his owner's shoulder and landed on the kitchen counter. He proceeded to meow loudly and excitedly, making Zelda laugh.

"I hope the food I left you had been enough while I was away. If so, then it's a good thing I came home just now." The young scholar said as she scooped some of the contents into a bowl.

In response, Jonesy began pacing and meowing even louder.

"I know, Jones. I know…" Zelda said and placed the bowl on the counter.

Jonesy did not hesitate to run over and devour the meaty, gravy-soaked cat food. Zelda smiled and gave the kitten a little scratch behind the ear before she left Jonesy to himself while she went to lay down on the couch in the living room.

Zelda stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. The events of everything was fully catching up to her, and as she thought back to each moment, it felt all surreal. She wondered if she had been in a trance or dreaming when all of this happened. Perhaps her exhausted mind was playing tricks on her.

Patting her pockets reminded her that it had all indeed be real incidents.

Pulling out the scraps, Zelda narrowed her eyes at them before she sat up stared at them. She winced when she finally remembered that her Sheikah Slate was still strapped to her side. With a tired sigh, she took the slate up and scanned the objects once more.

The analysis was the same; the pieces all belonged together to create one component. And that component was something that belonged to an unknown factor. She was also unsure what the use of this component was; was it a drive of some sort? Did it belong to a ship? Or something else? One thing she was sure of was that she would be wracking her brain until she found the answer, or made one for herself.

Before her mind could wander any further, Jonesy padded into the living room, having finished his meal, and rubbed himself around his owner's ankle. His touch snapped Zelda out of reverie and the Hylian picked the kitten up from the floor, placing him on her lap.

"The toughest part is over, Jonesy. For now. Now all that is left to do is continue studying, and prepare for the exams…" Zelda yawned and shook her head.

Jonesy purred and curled up on her lap. The young scholar sighed and ran her hand along the orange ball of fur, unwilling to disturb him. Still, his presence was rather soothing, and before Zelda could notice, she closed her eyes and fell into slumber's arms.

It would be hours later when Zelda finally awoke from her unexpected nap. She was still groggy and disoriented when she did, and Jonesy had uncurled from his little ball and stretched before hopping off of his owner's lap.

With a groan, the young scholar glanced at the components and Sheikah Slate still in her hands.

"How could I have slept like this…?" She groaned to herself. But before she even got up, her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she too needed sustenance.

Jonesy stared up at her before the kitten turned away to lick his paw.

"I know. I forgot to feed myself again. No need to give me that look…" Zelda mumbled before getting up to grab something.

She hardly had the chance to make something, so she usually settled for the frozen ready-to-eat meals. She was used to it, and they did not taste too bad in her opinion. In fact, she quite liked a few of them.

Grabbing one of the boxes stored in her refrigerator, Zelda sighed to herself. She would need to restock on the necessities soon. It would not do if she ran out of food and starved. And Jonesy needed to be fed as well.

As Zelda warmed her food, she found herself thinking again.

Samus Aran. She wondered what that enigma of a woman was up to now. Perhaps out on another job, considering that she was a bounty hunter, after all. It was likely she was on the trail of the Space Pirates from Norion.

A beep alerted the young scholar that her food was hot and ready. After taking the tray out and hissing from the hot sensation, Zelda frowned at her steaming meal. At least now she can get something in her stomach.

Feeling eyes on her, Zelda noticed Jonesy staring at her again. The kitten tilted his head and the Hylian rubbed the back of her neck.

"You know, Jones, I've met the most…unique woman," She said as she grabbed a fork and began digging in. "She spends her time wearing armor constantly and I wonder if she ever takes it off. In fact, I had no idea if she was a man, woman or even human when we first met. She had been assigned to be some sort of bodyguard while I did my field studies. Can you imagine?"

Jonesy merely continued to stare. Though the kitten did not seem agitated, and was rather enjoying the sound of his owner's voice. Zelda told the whole story to her furry roommate; about the first meeting, all the way up to the end. When she and Samus parted ways.

"I don't expect I'd see her again. But…that had been quite the experience. I'll be remembering it for a long time; I also hope Samus is doing well." Zelda trailed off. While she knew they would never meet again, she still wished the hunter all the best. And Samus had helped her more than a hired bodyguard was supposed to. That woman had gone above and beyond.

Jonesy let out a tiny mewl and rolled onto his back on the floor before suddenly skittering off into the living room, leaving Zelda to stare after him.

"Well then…" She sighed. Might as well some proper sleep before working on the fragments she brought back with her from the trip.

* * *

The next day was a return to routine for Zelda.

After feeding Jonesy and making sure he would be set for the day, she was once again ready to tackle another day at the academy. She had her report ready and if all went well, then she was on her way to graduating and becoming a full-fledged researcher.

She walked down the usual street, enjoying the sense of familiarity. It was always a breath of fresh air that she was living her own life at her own pace. A small smile crept onto the young scholar's lips and a hand touched the Sheikah Slate that remained at her side at all times.

When she stepped inside the academy, she felt that same giddiness she always got whenever she was about to begin a day of studying.

Zelda mentally steeled herself for another tiresome, yet fulfilling day.

Naturally, classes went on as usual, though she was not oblivious to some whispers that her keen ears would pick up during the long silences in the classroom. After all, her pointed ears were not just for show. She would resist the urge to sigh when she heard whispers behind her back, speaking about how she must be doing something unfair in order to get ahead of everyone else, as she was currently the only one to begin field research. She had done nothing of the sort; all she did was study merely because she loved research, and learning of the world that surrounded her.

And then she could also hear the harmless gossips. It was usually something of political topics, to the trivial hearsay of something as simple as a new menu, or something that an acquaintance may or may not have done.

However, on this day, there were whispers and murmurings that did make her pause for a moment. The sound of a familiar name being spoken. Samus Aran.

"Heard that this Samus Aran person actually took on an entire _armada_ of space pirates!"

"There you go again. There is no such thing and there's no way such a person exists!"

"Then how do you explain all those incidents! And those reports saying that Samus Aran the bounty hunter had done all those things? Decimating space pirates, and even saying people! Explain that!"

"Come on, you know that they probably made up some fairy-stories about some so-called hero doing all that as a cover! Either that or people just exaggerated details and turned it into some folklore, or some windbag was bragging about his achievements and some poor suckers actually bought it. Besides, even if this Aran person existed, there is no way this person could even be remotely human."

Zelda found herself frowning. She had seen Samus' face; the hunter herself had taken it off willingly in an attempt to soothe Zelda's panic attack by means of letting her see another human face. Samus Aran was definitely human, albeit an extraordinary one.

"I mean, with all that stuff they say this 'Aran' person does? What kind of person can even do that? Blowing up entire planets? Destroying _armies_ of Space Pirates? Give me a break! _Nobody_ can do that! Nobody human anyway," One of the gossipers said.

Zelda's frown deepened. The armor surely helped with a lot of the feats Samus was able to perform; but whether she was just inhumanly skilled or not, she was still very much a human. She had compassion and a mind of her own and nothing about her seemed animalistic or feral. Still, the scholar held her tongue.

"I don't know how you can't believe it. I mean you've seen it, you've heard of it!"

"Yeah but that could have been anything! It could be any existing bounty hunter looking for an easy pay. Or maybe it was the Federation! This Samus Aran is no more real than…than a snake-like dragon that spouts ice, fire and electricity all at the same time and just floats aimlessly in the sky!"

"And if Samus Aran _is_ real?"

"Then I'll eat all my research notes! With gravy!"

"Is that a bet?"

Zelda stopped listening by this point, tuning them out. She found it odd; Samus was indeed very much real and she was very skilled in what she does. How is it that there was at least someone who does not believe that one bounty hunter exists?

Instead she focused on her notes and the lecture going on at the front of the room. She needed to give her brain the exercise, after listening to mindless gossip that she almost could not avoid thanks to her sharp sense of hearing.

"You're looking a little tense today," A voice said beside her.

Zelda looked to her side and exhaled upon seeing a fellow student; a young woman with scruffy brown hair and a handsome face. "Dallas… Good day."

Dallas nodded in greeting. "Morning. So, what's the matter?"

"… I suppose I'm still more worn out than I thought I would be." Zelda said, looking down at her notes.

"Oh, right. You've been given the go-ahead to begin with the field studies. So, how did it go?"

Zelda thought of how to respond appropriately. "It…was quite the experience."

Dallas chuckled. "Run into any trouble?"

"Nothing that could not be handled, I assure you," Zelda said, waving his concern off.

"If this keeps up, you might be the only one who graduates before all of us!" He chuckled and nudged her playfully with an elbow.

Zelda blushed. "Nonsense! I will certainly graduate along with everyone else!"

"With your brains? No way," Dallas said teasingly.

While Zelda hardly interacted with her classmates, she had no qualms about talking with the other students. However she was hardly the social butterfly and sometimes she stumbled on her words despite being very articulate and sometimes formal in her speech. But when she did socialize, it was when she needed to work with a group or when they approached her first. Zelda was cautious around people though she knew how to interact when it was necessary.

Dallas, was one of the very few who willingly spoke with Zelda and did not seem bothered with her sometimes abrupt dismissals or tendency to walk off and notice she was being spoken to.

Despite this, Zelda always felt bad about it. Her mind worked constantly and she liked it that way, but she disliked being rude, especially when the person was not done anything wrong to her or sparked her ire.

"Hey. You okay? You know there's nothing wrong with skipping class if you're not well." Dallas said, noticing the young scholar's distracted state.

"I'm sorry. I've been thinking a lot lately, and it's distracting me."

The male student chuckled. "I thought you liked thinking."

"Not in a studious way. It's…more of a personal thing." Zelda admitted.

Her classmate nodded in understanding. "Hey, you're the most hardworking one among us. You know that, kid. But even a genius can get tired, you know. I thought you'd actually take the week off after hearing you got back from field research."

Zelda shook her head. "I can't afford to skip classes for that long. I already have so much notes to take down, and much studying to do."

"Take it easy. I panic too, but hey." Dallas advised.

It felt odd to her, but Zelda felt appreciative of the polite and concerned gestures. A little kindness does go a long way, even if she felt that she was not good around people, despite how social she seemed to the outside observer.

When classes ended, Zelda approached her professors with results of her studies. However, she sensed it was best to keep the _incidents_ under wraps. She was not that good with instincts, she was aware. But something inside her was saying to not give too many details and just give what she needed to, in order to move forward with her studies. It was a gut feeling she could not denied.

"These are certainly impressive, Miss Zelda." One of the professors said as he read her research. His colleagues nodded in agreement.

"How did it go? Your first time out in the real field?" A female professor asked, straightening in her seat, her expression not giving anything away, unlike her colleagues.

Zelda steeled herself in the face of this strict teacher. "It was tiring, I will admit. However, the experience is rather fulfilling."

"Excellent. There may be hope for you yet." The female professor said in approval.

"… Thank you, professor. I hope at least managed to live up to expectations." Zelda said humbly. Inwardly she thought back to the component pieces back home. It was probably best to keep that one as her own personal project.

"Well, it seems you've been working hard as usual. You may go, now. Get some rest." One of the more laid back professors said with a smile.

Zelda exhaled and nodded. "Thank you, professor. Good day."

With a bow of her head, the young scholar turned and left the room. In a way, she felt bad for not being more detailed and holding back a bit more from them. But that nagging feeling continued to the point that it hit was practically hitting the pit of her stomach.

Even now, she still had more things on her to-do list. She still had work to tend to; an academy student like her still needed to pay the bills somehow.

* * *

Jonesy was there to greet Zelda the moment she stepped through the door that night. The orange kitten meowed loudly and rubbed his body along her ankles, earning a smile from his owner.

"Hello, Jonesy." Zelda greeted before sitting down on the couch. "I have an awful lot to work on. But, let's hope for the best, right?"

She had left the components on the table in the living area, and thankfully it seemed that Jonesy hadn't been messing with them. Now all that was left was for her to closely study the usage of these components. They had to have a function somewhere…

Before she settled herself on the couch for a long night, the young scholar went to grab some ready-to-eat lasagne and warmed it up. It seemed to repulse people, but she personally liked it. It was meaty and saucy enough for her. And it didn't taste as bad as many thought it to be. Or was that because she had eaten a good amount of these that the taste grew on her? Either way, she planned on enjoying this simple dinner.

"This may cause some headaches, but I'm willing to go through with it." She said as she sat on the couch, and the kitten hopped up to lounge beside her on the couch. Jonesy purred and stretched his body out in an odd position while Zelda began tinkering.

By now, Jonesy was used to it. In fact, he found it rather peaceful. With someone like Zelda, what more could a lucky kitten want out of life?


	8. Chapter 8: Business

**Chapter 8: Business**

Samus lowered her arm cannon as the last of the space pirates fell. She exhaled as finally allowed herself to lower her guard a bit. For the last several weeks she had been tracking down the pirates from Norion, and each time, she reached dead-ends or had managed to get herself into a deeper hole that was connected to the incident. Yet, as of that moment, she had yet to encounter another creature that was out of place.

Glancing at her arm cannon, she noticed the cloth wrapped around her armor's elbow. The handkerchief was still there, somehow unharmed by the multitude of missions that Samus had been after parting ways with the handkerchief's previous owner.

The hunter was never one to get close and sentimental over those she'd have to work for. But whenever she looked at the cloth wrapped around her right elbow, she could not help but wonder how the young woman was faring.

Samus shook her head. It's been a while since she had properly thought back on that particular mission. But after taking off, she had retraced her steps and had once again revisited the planets they had visited. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary and so she had to extend her search farther.

Of course, she took on jobs as usual. But at the same time she had busied herself with tracking down the fleeing pirates. She had caught a few lucky breaks but it seems these particular pirates were always one steps ahead. If that was the case, then whatever operations they were working on was something big.

The hunter returned to her ship; it was time to collect her bounty.

As the vessel took off, she thought back to the day Adam had sent a message letting her know that her payment for watching over Zelda was now in the hunter's account. It appears that the young scholar had put in a good word and insisted Samus be rewarded. Even though the pay had been far from her mind after she parted ways with Zelda.

Aside from that, everything else had gone back to normal for Samus. Every hunt, every mission was all just routine. It was her life and it was how she lived for years.

After making sure she'd received her due reward, Samus knew it was a matter of time until she was called on again for another job. While she waited, she would take the time to relax for a moment. She had not visited a bar for quite some time and it would be a little easier since nobody recognized her without the armor. Perhaps getting a drink wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Deciding to head for the nearest spaceport, Samus just sat back while the ship went on autopilot. She rarely had a chance to relax like this, and these moments were so few and far between. While she did find it difficult to just let her guard down, she knew she needed it. She had to, or she may go insane. Maybe. At least that was how she felt.

While she sat in the pilot seat, she could not help but reminisce again.

She thought back to her childhood once more; recalling how she used to play in the woods as a little girl, running around and playing tag with the other kids on K-2L, and meeting Pyonchi, an old friend whom she had not seen for many years now. She wondered where he was and what he was doing. Was he even still alive at this point?

Her memories grew dark as well. The flames, the smell of blood, destruction and burning corpses. The sounds of panic, the screams of many innocents; men, women and children alike. And worst of all; the screams of her mother, along with her own terrified squeals as the woman who gave her life, gave up hers to save Samus. She had not known where her father had been when he had died, but it was clear he had been caught up in the explosion that wiped everyone and everything out. Despite this, her mind replicated his yells of pain, and to this day she wondered if he had suffered, or if his death had been quick and painless. She prayed it had been the latter.

Her memories then all blurred together, from the moment she had been rescued and taken under the wings of the Chozo, her years of training right after she'd been fused with their DNA, to her time in the Federation. Each image just flowed through her mind's eye, intermingling and sometimes distorting and embellishing some details of her past.

It was not new to the hunter, she had suffered these intense visions in her head often but she had learn to just live with them. To just suffer in silence, as she always had for all these years.

She snapped out of her trance, when her ship signalled that they had arrived on the planet and that it was going in for a landing.

Samus sighed and pulled her helmet off in order to pinch the bridge of her nose and then rub her temples in an attempt to drive the images from her mind. She was about to leave her ship and she could not afford to allow herself to get distracted when she was out of the safety of her ship, even if nobody really recognized her out of armor.

Only once she was very sure that she was not feeling disoriented or distracted, Samus deactivated her armor just as she stepped onto the lift, and it faded from her body as soon as she reached the top of the gunship. As easily as she did with her armor on, Samus made a jump off her vessel and landed with ease.

Now clad in only a blue top and shorts, the bounty hunter was practically incognito.

She just needed a drink or two to get her mind off things. However, she had no intention of getting drunk; it would only inhibit her senses, which were all too important to her. She was always on alert always needed to be ready, no matter what the circumstance. Even when she was giving herself a little break.

It felt odd to be walking among the common folk without her armor, but at the same time it was different. She blended in almost perfectly with the general populace; just a woman looking to take a break for bit, and nothing more. Yet despite this, she was always kept her guard up.

As Samus walked down the busy streets, she took the time to absorb the sights with her own eyes. She was always observing everything with a scan visor, gathering information left and right in order to gain the upper hand with her gathered Intel, and in order to tell hostile from the non-hostile. Never had she watched the world go by without the use of a scanner.

The world had been bleak to her for a long time, and it still was. She saw the lights, she saw the colors and she heard the many sounds. But she could not… _feel_ them. She was living in the moment unable to appreciate it all even if she stopped and stared. She could not. She did not know how to even if she tried. The world was a blur and it was dark.

Samus sighed as she finally arrived at a bar and sat down for a drink.

The bartender, a creature draped in a dark brown cloak, nodded at her and poured something for her. Samus leaned an elbow against the bar top and easily caught the glass as the cloaked creature slid it over to her. With a small, victorious smirk, Samus lifted up the glass slightly and drank it down.

She sighed as the liquid did its job. But after one more, she would wander the town for a bit to get some air. Before taking off once again. There was no shortage of people needing the service of a bounty hunter.

Samus finished her second glass before paying up, earning a thumbs-up from the cloaked bartender. She nodded in thanks and got up, heading out and ignoring the catcalls she got from a few passing men, and some women as well.

The rest of the world tended to be invisible to her at times and she could only see what was ahead. And at the moment, it was just herself. Though she had to admit the lights did give the streets a nice glow. Though she hardly had time to take a leisure stroll, when she did, she tried to appreciate whatever beauty the sights had to offer. A piece of advice from Old Bird back then.

Tiredly, she ran a hand along her hair before pulling it out of its usual ponytail, letting her blonde locks flow freely.

As usual, she was solemn and silent. Her focus was on her stroll; even such a simple thing seemed like a mission to her. She did tell herself to try and relax, but it was easier said than done. But as long as nothing was going on yet, she would take the opportunity to relish the quiet.

Not long into her walk, the sound of yelling caught the hunter's attention. She paused mid-step and looked over to see what was causing such a disturbance.

Samus' eyes narrowed upon seeing a young man being harassed by an unruly-looking group. Two of the women of the group was clearly making the teen uncomfortable as they were mocking while touching him in certain areas, and the men of the group just laughed at him.

It was clear the teenager, despite looking rather fit, was not feeling safe and was getting anxious from having these thugs place their hands on him; both male and female members were harassing him. But why, the hunter was unsure. He tried to break away and he was easily yanked back.

The teenager had had enough, and he attempted to fight back. He retorted, speaking firmly and quite harshly. However, it only served to annoy the gang leader who now had a deep frown. Obviously, he preferred it when his prey was meek and unable to yell back even a little.

The gang leader snapped his fingers and his lady companion kicked the kid down and stopped her heel on his chest. The teen struggled to get her off, only for her to kick him in the groin.

Laughter broke out as the gang enjoyed watching as he was getting beaten up so easily despite his efforts.

Samus tensed as she watched the scene. She saw how the teenager grit his teeth and struggled to get back up. He managed to stumble onto his feet and he tried fleeing. However, once again they cornered him, leaving him with no choice but the physically fight back.

One of the women punched him in the face with brass knuckles, while one of the men grabbed the kid's arm and twisted it behind his back.

Unable to stand it any longer, Samus made her way over to the scene, her eyes flashed dangerously and a cold glare overtook her features. She practically stomped the pavement, causing the group to pause in their torture of their victim and looked over at Samus.

"Well now, what do we have here?" The boss smirked.

The gang members began catcalling and whistling, but the bounty hunter was more concerned about the downed teen. He seemed to be hurting all over from the physical abuse, even as he tried to slid back and get away.

"Maybe she'd like to join us…?" One of the female members crooned and licked her lips. The boss laughed in agreement and gave the hunter a smirk.

Samus remained silent, and when one of them gang members tried to touch her, she reacted fast. With blinding speed, Samus swiped the gang member's wrist and tossed them aside with ease, shocking the boss, and the others.

Angered by this, the boys ordered the entire group to overtake the blonde, but once again, Samus easily evaded each attack and countering back with her own strikes. One by one, each gang member fell face-first onto the sidewalk, until only the boss and his companion remained.

The both of them glared down at Samus, but the hunter's posture remained calm and her face was expressionless as she focused on her two remaining foes.

The boss's temper was flaring, and he charged without any regard for his safety. The same went for his companion. She rushed at Samus at full speed, a concealed weapon in her hand as she attempted to fatally wound the hunter.

They were unfocused, and acting like mad people. Samus easily side-stepped them and landed an easy blow to the back of the boss's head. His companion went down as well when Samus swung her leg up and delivered a hard kick into the woman's back. She joined her fellow gang members.

With the entire group knocked out, the hunter finally turned her attention to the victim. She approached him slowly and got down on his knee to properly look at him.

The teenager tensed, scrambling back a bit in fright. He looked worried that he was about to be finished off by this stranger. But when he did not feel any pain, he opened his eyes to look at the stranger. He was both amazed and intimidated.

The woman was very tall, taller than the gang boss who had towered over the teenager. Long blonde hair, and deep, cool blue eyes. She was rather muscled and had an aura of strength about her. And she saved his life.

"… Thanks." He said, lowering his head.

Samus stood up and offered her hand for him to take. He hesitated before he took her hand and was caught off guard when the bounty hunter easily lifted him off the ground and set him on his feet. He looked embarrassed that he had been beaten up so badly. Still…

"I uh… Sorry you got involved, stranger. I guess I'm just not good at defending myself." He slumped. He did work out and he was very physically fit, but even someone physically strong could not just take on a whole gang. At least, not someone who wasn't trained in combat.

Samus shook her head and pat his shoulder encouragingly. She knew he would not be able to know what she was trying to say without words. But somehow, she wanted him to know that he did well to stand up to himself. She was just glad she had been in the area and manage to assist.

He blushed. "Well…I dunno how else to thank you except say 'thanks' again. Um…s-sorry to be rude, ma'am. But I gotta go." The teen winced when he realized he must have looked horrible, considering his injuries.

The bounty hunter nodded and lifted a hand to say farewell as the teen thanked her yet again and took off.

Once the young man was out of sight, Samus sighed. That was definitely not a way to take a break, but what was more important was the fact that she prevented someone from being defiled or killed by a bunch of street thugs. She glanced at them; they were all still passed out and so she figured to leave them there. She needed to return to her ship anyhow.

* * *

She felt much more comfortable once she was back in armor. It was a relief to her, and she felt much more secure and confident.

As she had expected, a message had been left for her, urgently asking for her services. She played the message and she was yet again the bounty hunter many feared. It was exhausting, mentally and emotionally—she could easily handle the physical strain—but it was far easier to deal with. It was familiar, and safe. At least in her mind, it had become safe.

The new job was nothing too extreme; just track down and deal with dealers who planned to sell illegal weaponry at the black market. She had to destroy whatever illegal goods she could find, and make sure the culprits remained alive long enough for the Federation to make an arrest.

The last part, she could not make promises. If the culprits resisted with force, then Samus would have to use force in return.

Samus' gunship made its way to the planet that the suspects were said to reside. Behind her visor, she narrowed her eyes and readied herself. Anyone involved with illegal goods were always desperate, clever, and one step ahead. She was not going to underestimate these black market merchants.

Once she had landed and jumped off, the hunter glanced at her ship one more time before moving forward, into danger. It did not matter what kind of job it was. There was always bound to be a threat in some form or other.

Naturally, the inhabitants of the planet she was currently on were all quite shady. After all, this location was known to be a haven for those who liked to sell things…underground. Of course, she was used to sleazy characters and dealt with them on a daily basis; whether they be allies or enemies. They were one of the worst specimen to deal with due to the fact that despite not being strong physically, their minds were a deadly weapon and they always liked to be ten steps ahead, and showed off an ego as large as the universe itself, and arrogance that was in endless supply. All because they had more money than humility.

Samus frowned as she strode along with confidence and determination, ignoring the glares or even suspicious stares she got from the passing populace; both human and alien alike.

The planet was also a hub for bounty hunters like herself. But unlike herself, they were more focused on the credits they got, rather than the hunt itself. Some did care for the hunt, but only to feel the thrill of the kill, while also enjoying the feeling of credits blowing up their bank accounts.

Indeed, it seems Samus was rather the odd one out of all bounty hunters in existence. However, she lived under different philosophies despite her occupation, and nothing could ever change that. She had long vowed to protect the galaxy, as Old Bird and Gray Voice had trained her to do.

Sensing something in her peripheral vision, Samus turned her head, only to be greeted by emptiness even when her visor scanned the area. She narrowed her eyes dangerously; she had long learned to trust every bit of her senses, and even if her scanners picked up nothing, a wisp of shadow was enough for her to be on guard. She knew she was being watched.

The hunter placed her left hand on top of her cannon as she made her way to the designated location. She expected that that her prey had cleared the place out to avoid being arrested, but one could never be too sure in this line of work. Samus then glanced at her arm cannon, bringing up the map with the marked location.

She nodded to herself and sprinted, heading for the abandoned warehouse where the alleged illegal goods were stored.

Upon arrival, she lifted her arm cannon, readying herself for any attack, should there be one. She had arrived at the warehouse with relative ease. But it had been _too_ easy. It could be an ambush for all she knew, and she was no fool.

She switched her scanner to her x-ray visor, trying to pick up any signature of life to indicate the possibility of this ambush she predicted was awaiting her. However, when her scan did not pick up anything, it made her all the more cautious. She refused to believe that the goods were left unguarded. Samus stepped forward. Slowly, carefully. Each step was calculated and careful. She trusted nothing and she was willing to fight as always.

Once she was inside, all was too quiet, too still. She went through each of her different visor applications and all seemed clear. Unless…

Samus went deeper into the warehouse, turning on her x-ray visor once again. She was familiar with this sort of scene; some underground merchants were smarter than others. The goods would be hidden somewhere it could not be detected. The only question remained; what were these illegal goods?

A low rumbling alerted the hunter and she pointed her cannon towards the source of the sound. She scanned her surroundings once more and almost immediately it picked up some sort of signature. It was an odd shape, barely readable. But it was _something_.

She moved towards it, her instincts reminded her to gear up for a big fight.

Psyching herself up, she charged into the next room, pointing her cannon forward. Again, she was met with silence. But what stood before her was enough to make her blood run cold in her veins.

The room was huge and lined with large glass vats. Each one of them contained a specimen floating inside some sort of liquid. What was even more frightening about the sight was that half of the specimens in the vats were familiar to Samus, due to the fact that she had met them before.

A silver-colored lynel was in one of the vats, another one contained a King Dodongo, but it looked different from the yellow one Samus encountered on that one assignment from weeks ago. This dodongo was darker in color and had only two legs, with a dark green-greyish spike on its head. In a vat beside the dodongo was another creature that Samus was not familiar with. It looked like some sort of goblin. But it was not the only one; there were other goblin-like creatures, and all with different colors. Some were brown, some were black, and some were silver with stripes.

Samus grew even tenser as she looked at each of the specimens. Some of them were alien creatures that she had encounter many times in her career, while others were likely from the planet, Hylia, if not from other foreign planets that the hunter had never visited before.

The more she looked at them, she noticed something off. Each of the specimens seem to be sporting some metallic plating, as if they were half-machine. But it was clear that these creatures were flesh-and-blood. These metallic components were added to their body. Or perhaps parts of their body were taken off in order to put the metal bits in as replacements.

Were these the illegal goods that she had been sent to track down? Did her clients know about it? If not, then what would they do if they learned what the merchandise were? But if they did know, then what would they do with these specimens?

So far, there were no signs of the suspects who were in charge of these black market merchandise. Had they fled? Or did they know Samus was coming and would find these? It could very well be a trap, and she had walked right into it. She was probably even being watched at this very second.

Whatever the case, she had to make the decision. Something must be done about these beasts that were left in suspended animation. One thing she did know; nobody should ever get their hands on these monsters.

The hunter looked around the room, searching for a control panel, or anything that could put an end to this operation. If not, then she would have to resort to…other means.

Before Samus could make another move, something in the corner of the large room stirred. Red eyes glowed and glared right at the hunter. The sound of whirring surrounded the armored warrior, and almost immediately, she was pounced on.

Samus jumped back, swiftly dodging a metallic claw as it slammed down onto the spot she had been standing on a second ago.

The armored hunter pointed her cannon at the enemy, and finally, she got a good look at her opponents. They were more machine than creature, but they still had flesh on their mostly-mechanical bodies. The creatures were rather tall, slightly slender, with a singular horn on their head, and long pig-like snouts.

Samus shot at them and the creatures flinched before charging at her, causing chaos in their wake and not caring what they damaged, be it machinery or some of the vats that lined the room.

The glass containers cracked and some of the liquid seeped out, but the creatures remained unmoving and lifeless. All the while, the metallic beasts continued to chase after Samus as she dodged their blows.

When she saw an opening, Samus leapt up, somersaulting in the air while energy engulfed her form. She continued to somersault into the enemy, slamming hard into their chest. She did not let up and continued to assault the creatures with the Screw Attack, not allowing them any breathing room.

The tall pig-like creatures swiped at the hunter who dodged with ease, and countered with a missile to their faces and chests.

One glance at the cracked vats confirmed to Samus that these mechanical foes were indeed one of these creatures; there were identical creatures inside another vat, floating there, and still not yet altered as they had all of their flesh intact.

If these mechanical beasts were the intended results of these animals and aliens, then it was probably a smarter move to just destroy the merchandise. Everything was too unpredictable and unstable. It has to be destroyed. Samus fired a super missile at the mechanical beasts, sending them stumbling back until they crashed into the nearest wall, and another vat.

The struggle continued, with the hunter sending blasts at her enemies, and the beasts seemed to show no signs of tiring out, but Samus was not deterred as she kept up her attack. Her armor took the brunt of the damage, but she was quick on her feet and she didn't take too much of a beating.

But with every passing minute, the warehouse was taking the damage even more than Samus' armor.

Vats had cracked and shattered completely, several of the specimens were laying lifeless on the cold steel floor, some still hanging by wires they had been attached to, and the control panels had been dented in addition to sparking from the damage dealt to them.

Samus jumped back, giving herself a good distance from her foes, and aimed again. Energy had gathered in her arm cannon, a blue aura engulfed the barrel. The beasts ran towards her but Samus remained still, letting the energy charge up until she was final able to gather enough.

As soon as the altered beasts came a couple of inches closer, Samus released the energy, unleashing a large and powerful blast in the form a blue laser.

The laser consumed the hunter's enemies, making them release an inhuman screech that was half-mechanical-sounding. Those were the last sounds they ever made as they were disintegrated by the Zero Laser blast, along with whatever else was unfortunate enough to cross paths with the powerful attack.

Samus recoiled slightly as her attack ended. As soon as she lowered her arm cannon, the entire warehouse began to explode, starting with the vats. Each beast was turned to cinders, and next the machines in the room caught flames before blowing up as well.

Samus turned on her heels and ran for the exit. Behind her, the flames and explosions expanded, engulfing everything in its wake while the hunter sprinted outside just in time before she was engulfed as well. The entire warehouse, along with its hidden contents, were up in flames, hopefully leaving nothing behind.

The hunter watched as the smoke rose into the sky before stepping back a few paces and turning away to head back to her gunship.

Something was still off; she had dealt with the merchandise, but the suspects never showed up. Had they cleared out already, or had it been a trap? Did they know Samus would be after them? What were they trying to accomplish by allowing their work to be found and then destroyed by Samus, or any other bounty hunter or Federation Officer that may have been sent to deal with the situation? No, something was wrong, and the armored warrior intended on following this up until the end. Especially since it now seemed to connect to the incident involving Hylia creatures.

As she finally got back to her her gunship and got back inside, she knew her clients for this particular mission would have to deal with the black market merchandise being disintegrated. She had learned from experience that _nobody_ should ever trusted with potential makings of deadly weapons.

Around her right elbow, the handkerchief somehow remained unscathed.

* * *

 **A double whammy!**

 **I wanted to release the seventh and eighth chapter together back-to-back in order to showcase both Samus and Zelda's usual routines. Some time had indeed passed since they had gone separate ways, in case anyone was wondering.**

 **Thanks for taking the time to read this story and I hope you readers enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! Stay awesome!**

 **Until then…**


	9. Chapter 9: Repairs

**Chapter 9: Repairs**

As expected, not everyone had been pleased with the end result. While Samus knew what she did right, that did not necessarily mean others would see it that way.

The clients had demanded an explanation, but when the hunter remained her usual silent self, only straightening and looking down at their glaring eyes—as she towered over her clients—her pay had been deducted greatly. She was still given a handsome amount, but it had been nowhere as near as good of an offer as it had been at the start of the mission.

She had taken it, of course. But that left her with unsatisfied clients, but that was probably for the best. She had done it to make sure nobody else got hurt and that nothing uncontrollable got unleashed.

Now that she had some time to herself, Samus had decided to take her ship in for some maintenance. It had been a good while.

Still clad in her armor, as usual, the armored hunter set a course for a space station; it was one she was also familiar with. Someplace she could always drop by, and it was quite close to Daiban. Samus could not remember the last time she had visited, and it had also been the last time she ever had her gunship properly checked.

When the destination was in sight, Samus had her ship land just in front of a tall, crude looking structure.

The building had a wide entrance to allow a ship like Samus' to enter, it was was surrounded by an array of junk though they may be of some use in the right hands. A crane arm was settled on top of the building, and finally, on the face of the structure's top was a large 'D', the tail of the letter was somewhat long, almost making the it look like a 'P' instead.

The Junk Quixote; a junk shop where Samus knew she would get the best treatment for her ship. It may seem like nothing but a huge crude building where nothing but garbage would accumulate, but Samus knew better. It was one of the places she could always go back to in order to get her bearings, and to make sure her ship was always in perfect condition.

Once she was out of her ship, Samus approached the Quixote and stepped inside. Everything was just as she remembered during her last visit.

"Well look who it is! You got some nerve showing up after not showing up for too long!" A loud grouchy voice called out from somewhere inside the junk shop.

Samus looked up in time to see a little furry brown creature with two long appendages that seemed to act as arms. The creature also seemed to be settled inside a small silver hovercraft that was just his size. The creatures left eye was only a mechanical eye piece. Two dark brown stripes ran down the top of his head.

"Diesel." Samus greeted from behind the visor.

"Samus Aran… About time! I was getting bored out of my mind! A mind like mine can only take typical jobs for so long! How's your ship?" The creature known as Diesel said as he peeked outside to see the familiar gunship.

Samus merely tilted her head at him. Diesel was one of the very few she actually spoke aloud to. But even then, she was still mostly silent. Fortunately for the junk shop owner, he knew the hunter well by now, and her head tilt was his signal that she wanted a full maintenance done to her vessel.

"You're lucky I'm kinda fond of you, Aran! Otherwise, I'd just do this for that beauty of a ship of yours! A beauty like that needs to be treated properly, not be tossed around by a bunch of no-good uncultured savages!" Diesel ranted as he hovered over to the gunship.

He was a very sharp-tongued grouch, but he was the best at what he does. And Samus knew it very well.

"Ack! A scratch! A dent! You almost burned out the engines…! When're ya gonna learn to treat your lady with the utmost care!?" Diesel ranted, shaking one of his long appendage-arms in irritation. A wrench was clutched in his other appendage while he inspected the hunter's gunship.

Samus crossed her arms casually, very much used to Diesel's personality and his grouchy demeanor. Especially when it came to machinery.

As Diesel worked on the ship, and Samus took the time to rest herself, slightly hurried footsteps could be heard coming out of the shop.

"Excuse me, Mr. Diesel? I managed to repair the control panel of the crane arm, so you should be able to…"

Samus whirled around at the sound of the voice and found herself face-to-face with a familiar figure. The feeling was mutual, when Zelda's eyes widened and gaped slightly when she saw Samus standing there, right in front of her. The two looked very much the same as the last time they saw each other, all those weeks ago.

"Y-you…" Zelda breathed out.

"Oh good! Finally! Damn crane caused me enough trouble by not getting any work done!" Diesel grumbled as he hovered down from Samus' gunship.

Samus turned her head to stare at Diesel, then back at Zelda. The young scholar was still frozen in place, but she turned her head away slightly and cleared her throat.

"Alright, kid. Go ahead and take your break." Diesel said as he hovered past the two, more focused on his work than on the reactions that the two women had when they saw each other.

Zelda only nodded and headed off to take her break.

The bounty hunter turned on her heels and walked into the junk shop, approaching Diesel and giving him a look. She crossed her arms again, this time as a way of silently telling the creature to explain how he knew her former charge.

Diesel noticed the blank visor staring right at him. Rather than feel intimidated, he frowned and huffed at her. "What? What's with the glare? If that _is_ what you're doing under than tin can you call a helmet."

Samus pointed her thumb over her shoulder, towards the direction which Zelda had gone off to.

Diesel gave her a look. "What, that kid? What about her?"

The hunter just stared at him in response, and Diesel rolled his one good eye, his mechanical eye-piece not able to act like a normal eye did, but at least allowed him to see.

"You know I ain't good at charades, Samus! Anyway… That kid's been workin' for me for a while. Met when she arrived here for the first time. Obviously never been to this place before, and was stickin' out like a lost pup." The junk shop owner said as he continued working.

Samus tilted her head and looked towards the large door of the Junk Quixote. She had already been told a bit by Anthony that Zelda had come to Daiban on her own, but now she had just learned from Diesel that she had first touched down at this particular space station, and approached the junk shop.

"The kid asked me how she could get to Daiban. Apparently, she'd been dropped off here for a bit. Didn't bother askin' around before she got here. She did have this tablet she always kept at her side…" Diesel chuckled and rubbed the nubs of his appendages together. "Looked like a lovely piece of tech that would be worth. But she holds on to it with an iron grip!"

Samus raised an eyebrow behind her visor. Diesel could get a little greedy sometimes, and seeing something like a weapon or device that may be worth a lot or be of great use, or money, the techy alien was prone to really wanting it.

Diesel waved her off. "I didn't try to snatch it from her, if that's what you're thinking! It was just easy to tell! The kid was skittish about talking about her little device. Kinda surprised me when she asked to be hired! Can ya believe that? Some kid just plops down, walks over to me to ask for directions and _then_ asking for a job all in one night!"

The hunter sighed and shook her head. Again, something new she had learned about her former charge.

"Naturally I said _no way_! Ain't no way I was gonna hire some stray pup into my shop! But…" Diesel hovered over to the back of his shop, and Samus followed behind him.

The hovercraft-riding creature inspected some of the parts he kept stored away before he continued with his story.

"I've been having a hell of problem with one of my generators, and the damn kid just jumped up and went back there! Without even asking! She just went in the back and started fooling around with the machines! Was gonna kick her out, but when I got there… It was fixed. Like it was nothing!" Diesel let out a laugh.

Samus tilted her head; she already knew from her time with her that Zelda knew her way around technology, and she had been intent on working on the mysterious components they had found. But she had never seen the young Hylian actually repair anything. But hearing that she had actually managed to impress the grouchy junk shop owner by easily fixing a problem he had been having for a while…

"I decided wasn't completely useless after all. And now she's been workin' for me for almost two years now." Diesel said, finally hovering back out to the front to return to Samus' ship and finish his maintenance on it. "How do _you_ know the kid anyway? Don't try to pretend, ya walking bin! You seem a little too interested."

"A job." Samus replied.

"A job? She hire you for something?" Diesel asked nonchalantly.

The hunter placed her armored hand on her hip. "No. I was supposed to watch her while she did some studying."

"Hah!" Diesel snickered. "You agreed to babysit her? I'm surprised you didn't reject the job."

"Adam asked me to."

"Figures. You hardly say no to the guy." Diesel said as he slapped his appendages together once he had finished with the gunship. "Go ahead, then say hello to the kid or something. I know you want to. Or don't. Really doesn't matter to me; just don't rough her up or anything. She's my only employee, and she's actually useful."

* * *

It did not take long for the hunter to track down Zelda.

The young scholar had not wandered far from the Junk Quixote, and had only opted to move around the scrap yard since it was much closer and she would easily be able to return to work once her break was over. When Samus finally found her, Zelda was sitting on one of the hills made of scrap. She was tapping away at her Sheikah Slate.

Hearing the heavy footsteps, Zelda nearly jumped out of her skin, but relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Oh. It's you. I…didn't think I'd ever see you again, Samus." She said, fiddling with a strand of her blonde hair.

Samus nodded in agreement; she had thought the same. And never in a million years did she think she'd bump into the Hylian again, at the Junk Quixote of all places. And working for Diesel.

The hunter pointed at Zelda, asking a silent question.

Zelda stared at her for a moment then blinked. "Oh! I'm faring well, thank you. Well, the professors liked the results of my field studies. And…it's thanks to you."

Samus waved it off; it was no big deal, and she had only been doing her job, after all. Still, she was not used to such a genuine 'thank you'. But she heard it so often that she usually waved it off with ease.

"I'm…honestly surprised to see you again. And this soon." Zelda admitted.

The hunter nodded in agreement; she had thought the same thing. But this funny coincidence apparently had other plans. At least it was nice to see that she was still doing well after their excursion. No lasting mental damage seemed to be detectable.

"Um…have you been doing well?" The young scholar asked.

Samus snapped out of her trance and realized she had been instinctively scanning the Hylian. She stopped and just nodded. It could have been better, but in comparison to most situations she's been in, this was a lot better.

Zelda stared at the armored warrior carefully; something in the hunter's body language hinted at something on the contrary. It was quite difficult to pick up on any twitches, since Samus was covered in head to toe in armor. But even so, Zelda could notice little actions no matter how small and slight. And so far, she was seeing a bit of tension when the rounded shoulders raised up a tiny bit to indicate a bit of tensing at the shoulders.

"Well… I assume that Mr. Diesel has done repairs for you before? You seem quite familiar with him," She said, feeling slightly awkward at the silence. She had a feeling the bounty hunter did not want to discuss certain topics.

Again, Samus merely nodded in response. While she had spoken out loud to Zelda a fair amount, she was still not used to speaking to someone, especially in normal conversations. And yet, there was something in the hunter that was urging her to say _something_ to the young Hylian woman.

"… Diesel mentioned that you met him before you actually arrived on Daiban." The hunter said after a long moment of silence.

Zelda flushed slightly. "Oh. Well, yes. Before I actually got to Daiban…I was dropped off here first. From here I was told I could find a simple transport to take me to my final destination. In the meantime, I thought to rest here before I moved on. And that was when I met with Mr. Diesel."

Samus nodded in understanding. Somehow, this young woman managed to impress the grumpiest, yet most intelligent and tech-savvy, alien that the hunter knew. It was quite the accomplishment, considering that while Diesel did have his moments of compassion, he was a hard nut to crack. And that was fine with Samus; she could get along with him easily and he hardly asked questions. It made her comradeship with Diesel easier.

"It seems you are more familiar with Mr. Diesel beyond that of a regular customer," The Hylian commented.

The armored hunter nodded. It had started off that way, but as time went on, she found herself interacting more often with Diesel and he had been quite intrigued with the tech Samus had with and on her. He had claimed her to be his best client but eventually, he somehow became an ally despite his gruff exterior and sharp tongue. Samus was never bothered by how much he seemed to act like a slightly grumpy and greedy old man. He always did his job with the greatest of ease and with great efficiency. The Junk Quixote became a place that the bounty hunter could always go to if she needed a place to take a breather, especially for her ship.

"Well, if you need anything else, please let me know. As Mr. Diesel's employee I will do my best to assist you." Zelda said with a polite smile. It was the least she could do for Samus, after all.

The hunter looked at her and seemed to stare a bit. "Have you managed to make progress?"

It took a moment for the Hylian to realize what she was asking. "Progress…? Oh! Well yes, a little bit. Whenever I can, I try to make use of what I can find around the junkyard. There's a lot of materials here that could be quite helpful. If I am lucky."

Samus still felt somewhat suspicious about the components they found. Granted, she had been the one to pick them up and hand them to Zelda, but at the time, it seemed harmless enough. So far, Zelda seemed unharmed from tweaking with whatever it was she was going to end up reconstructing.

"Speaking of which…I must get back to the shop. Mr. Diesel can be very impatient, but I think you know that." Zelda said with a chuckle as she stood up and dusted the backside of her pants off.

The bounty hunter nodded in understanding and joined Zelda on her way back to the Junk Quixote.

As they headed back, Zelda decided to break the silence a little bit. "I know it isn't any of my business, but… How are you? Have you…made progress as well?"

Samus felt reluctant to tell her anything about it, since she felt it was still safer that the young scholar remain oblivious to what was going on; while Zelda had known what the odd creatures were, that did not mean she had to dig a deep hole for herself just for interacting with Samus.

When she was met by silence, the Hylian just nodded to herself. Of course. She understood what the hunter was _likely_ thinking. But for some reason, she could not help but feel concerned. Zelda sighed in defeat and glanced at the armored woman walking beside her. At the corner of her eye she noticed something hanging around the hunter's right elbow joint of the armor.

Samus still had the handkerchief; the cloth remained tied to the elbow that was attached to the arm cannon. Zelda had been sure that the hunter would easily toss it in the trash when she had the chance—she had expected it, even—but to see that the hunter still had it on her…

"You…kept it?"

Samus blinked and followed the Hylian's gaze, noticing the handkerchief. She had not taken it off ever since parting ways with Zelda; she could have removed it easily and gotten rid of it, but did not bother doing so. When she thought about it, she was not really sure why she did not remove the cloth. The hunter mentally reasoned that it was because that the handkerchief was not harmful in any way, and she also had been too busy to bother, to the point that she had forgotten to untie it. At least…that was what she was telling herself. She could not imagine what any other reason there could be.

"I thought you'd want to remove it. It's just a piece of cloth after all," Zelda said, still sounding surprised.

"It…did no harm," Samus replied. Inwardly, she wanted to smack herself for such a silly response. It sounded like a weak answer, even to her own ears.

Zelda flushed slightly. "Well…thank you for still taking care of it."

After that, the two remained silent for the rest of the way back to the junk shop. The silence was at least comfortable, so it did not bother them too much. Just the presence of the other seemed to be enough to feel like they were in good company; it was nice…and familiar.

* * *

"Hey kid, right on time! I need you to work on some of the equipment out back!" Diesel called out from where he was double-checking on Samus' ship.

Zelda's reaction was swift; she excused herself and headed off to begin work again, leaving Samus with her alien ally.

Diesel snorted when he noticed the bounty hunter watching as the young woman hurried back into the shop. "Never thought you'd be _that_ soft with kids. You usually, help 'em then leave 'em."

Samus turned to look up at her ship, where Diesel was working.

"What? I'm just saying you never usually care to stick around to check on some kid." Diesel said, waving a wrench before he turned his attention back to his work.

"… I didn't come here looking for her. I didn't even know she works here until I landed. And under _you_ of all people." The armored hunter said, crossing her arm and arm cannon together.

Diesel scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. I _do_ pay her, ya know. She's a good employee, for a kid."

"She's a student at the academy." Samus said.

"Oh? She's part of that stuffy Federation school? I always had been wondering why she wanted to get to Daiban badly. Bah! Waste of talent! Those Federation stiffs put up rules and follow rules, but it's kinda hypocritical, don't ya think? They try looking into stuff they shouldn't mess with! But they do have all that fancy technology… All that amazing equipment…wasted on those stiff-collars. Bah!" Diesel spat in annoyance.

Samus made no comment. The Federation did its best to keep the peace in the galaxy, but at the same time, she knew where Diesel was coming from. Still, the Federation had been the ones who called on her whenever they need something done. Usually Samus just did the mission she was given. But that did not mean she had moment with her morality once in a while.

It was not something the hunter questioned, however; she would never bring harm to innocence, even for all the credits in the world. She was a bounty hunter, not a murderer. In a way, it made her different from most other bounty hunters.

Glancing towards the shop, the hunter decided to step inside and found Zelda hard at work.

The young scholar had her Sheikah Slate at her side and was also putting it to use with her chores around the shop. She acted like she had been with Diesel for more than a year or two, and it was clear she enjoyed working with components and machines.

Noticing movement in the corner of her eye, Zelda turned and saw Samus watching her. "Oh, Samus. Sorry, I'm quite busy. But I don't mind chatting if you wish; you'll just have to excuse that I have to run about while doing so."

Samus shook her head and waved her concern off. She really did not mind; she was more of an observer anyhow.

Despite Zelda saying she did not mind chatting, there was silence between them, with the exception of the sound of clanking, Zelda's footsteps, and the occasional tapping and beeping from the Sheikah Slate. It was as if neither knew what to even talk about, but the option to say something was open.

"Have you received your bounty since we last had an encounter?" The Hylian asked, a little distractedly. She inspected one of the control panels inside the shop before moving her eyes to her slate, tapping on its screen.

Samus tensed slightly but nodded. She paused when she realized the young scholar would not be able to notice her wordless answers, what with the way Zelda kept running around.

"… I have."

"That's nice," Zelda replied before pausing to look over her former escort. "I…wanted to make sure you were compensated. For having to put up with me."

Samus had heard her say something akin to those words before. While she was thankful to Zelda for insisting she got her payment, the hunter felt that that there had been something more important than credits at that moment.

"I apologize. I seem to be talking in circles…" Zelda sighed and stopped running about. "I'm just glad that things worked out in the end; I managed to get back to my usual routine. With any luck, I should be graduating soon. It would be nice to finally…start out in life."

Samus approached the young scholar. Something about the tone of her voice, the way she spoke… While she could see that Zelda obviously enjoyed studying and researching—something that was clear during their time together during Zelda's field studies—the Hylian seemed weary, as if there was something on her shoulders; an unseen weight that she seemed to be carrying, yet at the same time she would become lighter as if the weight had never been there. And then the weight would return again without warning.

Zelda tensed, sensing the hunter's strong presence right behind her. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment; the bounty hunter towered over her, an intimidating yet impressive figure, and all she could do was gawk up at the armored warrior.

Samus placed her armored hand on the young scholar's shoulder, in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. She only watched Zelda's body language but she could already tell that this young woman had some sort of insecurity to her. Zelda was so articulate, her speech patterns were that of someone who was good with words and had an education even before the academy. But much of that seemed to be hidden behind this young woman's insecure demeanor.

Of all people, Samus knew was it was like to feel anxious when speaking to others one was not too familiar with; in her line of work, while she had to interact with people often, especially those who wished to hire her, she barely spoke, if at all.

Zelda glanced the other way shyly. "I'll be done with work in about hour or two, so…by then your gunship should be finished with its maintenance. I'll be doing the last minute check-up on it myself."

Samus nodded in thanks and pat the young woman's shoulder gently. She oddly still enjoyed Zelda's company even after the fact that they were no longer associated with each other by any means. But in that time, their interactions had been something different from Samus' usual encounters with other people. In fact she found herself _wanting_ to interact with the young woman.

Diesel came hovering in to let the hunter know that he was done working on the gunship, just as Samus lowered her hand from Zelda's shoulder; everything was in order and it should be good to go.

"I'll do the last minute checks, Mr. Diesel." Zelda said to her little alien boss.

Diesel crossed his tendril arms. "Yeah, fine. Just make sure you do it well, kid."

Without another word, the grouchy old alien hovered off to the very back of his shop, leaving his only employee alone with the bounty hunter once again. He had better things to do than idle around, and he had Zelda to deal with whatever the front of the shop needed.

"Well, he does pay well enough, at least." Zelda mumbled sheepishly, already quite used to Diesel's attitude.

After another hour or so, Zelda finished off with checking on the gunship. Both exterior and interior was in good shape, as well as the engine, the thrusters… The bounty hunter clearly looked after her vessel with so much care; it was obviously her pride and her joy.

Upon inspecting the inside of the ship, it was still the same as Zelda remembered from those many weeks ago. It felt oddly nice to see this familiar setting again, especially when she stepped into the cockpit.

Samus jumped down into her gunship, finding Zelda looking around and inspecting everything. The young woman was nothing if not thorough. The way her hands gently glided along the surfaces that she touched and how her fingers expertly tapped at the control panels of the gunship. There was a tenderness to her actions, even though she was merely doing her job. But there had never been anyone with such care like Zelda.

Even Diesel, the natural-born genius with machines—as was the standard of his species—did not have the same touch as this young Hylian did, and Diesel was born to work with machines; anything he touched turned into a masterpiece.

"I'm impressed. Not many of our customers takes this much care of their ships," Zelda commented, still inspecting the controls of the cockpit.

The hunter said nothing in response. However, this was the first time anyone's made such a compliment over something as simple as looking after their gunship.

"It did get dented once in a while," Samus admitted.

Zelda giggled at that. "Yes, I heard Mr. Diesel complaining about a dent, but it seems he managed to smooth it out now. And the engine is no longer overheated, so you should not have to worry about any malfunctions or your ship exploding from the inside. And your systems are all good to go."

"… Thank you."

The young woman nodded. "Of course. It's the least I can do."

Silence between them again. Samus felt that urge again; that urge to say something, anything. But what could she even possibly say at this moment? It was at very rare moments like these that she wished she had even a little bit of tact and social skills.

Instead of trying to say anything, she looked at the Hylian. There were no words that could be possibly be exchanged, and there was no reason to. Despite the hunter's opaque visor, both Samus and Zelda's eyes met and just held each other's gaze. Some sort of understanding came between them. In that moment, a sort of calm enveloped them both and they forgot the world around them. It was an odd feeling when everything came to a standstill.

And neither Samus nor Zelda minded at all.

* * *

 **Another chapter done!**

 **A big thanks to all of you who read this story; it makes me smile whenever I see you write a comment to tell me how the chapter made you feel and what you liked about it. It truly inspires me.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter; its not that exciting but it's progress, right?**

 **Until then…**


	10. Chapter 10: Collateral Damage

**Chapter 10: Collateral Damage**

Zelda placed her Sheikah Slate aside on the table as she collapsed on the couch. She was exhausted, but rather fulfilled. She had gotten so much work done and she was still free the next day, so it would give her time to rest a bit.

Jonesy toddled over and stared up at his pointy-eared owner before attempting to climb the couch, the kitten only managing to get so far. He meowed loudly, catching Zelda's attention. She tiredly lifted her head and noticed Jonesy trying to climb up. She sat up and leaned over to scoop the kitten up, and then laid back down.

The kitten purred as he got more comfortable. His owner was telling him stories again; he liked listening to her voice. It was calming and soothing to him. His human could just go on and on about something, and kitten could hear some sort of enthusiasm in her tone.

Jonesy was Zelda's only company and so he was naturally the one she would express her thoughts to. She had shared with the kitten how she ended up reuniting with her former bodyguard. It was unexpected, but the surprise was not unwelcome.

Samus had decided to stay at the Junk Quixote for a while to recuperate, and because of that, Zelda had begun to make daily visits to the shop and check up on Samus, even on her day off.

Tomorrow, she planned on visiting Samus again at the junk shop. But in the meantime, she would be able to rest and spend time with her kitten. Usually she would be busy studying, but she had already a fair amount of that, and her research papers were ready for when she had to return to the academy again.

"What do you think, Jonesy? I haven't cooked something in a while, but maybe…Samus might like something homemade. Right?" Zelda looked down at her orange kitten.

Jonesy stared up at his owner and blinked slowly in response.

The Hylian sighed and rubbed her temples; ever since she'd started studying at the academy, she had focused more on her works, and on Jonesy, to even bother working on her cooking skills. While she was no chef, she knew her way around the kitchen that she did not have to worry about going hungry since she knew how to cook.

But for a long while now, she had come to enjoy frozen meals that could be easily warmed up and consumed; it was less time-consuming than if she had to make her own dishes. Especially since she was always so preoccupied. But maybe now might be a good time to try something again since she did have some spare time.

Getting off the couch, Zelda made her way into the kitchen and sighed as she looked around. Jonesy toddled after her; he had been enjoying the warm company and he was not yet done with it.

"What do you think, Jones? What should I make?" Zelda looked down at the kitten and lifted him up onto the counter.

Once again, Jonesy just blinked at her. He was not sure what his person was going on about, but what he knew was that he liked hearing her voice; it was the first sound he heard when she first picked him up and brought him home.

Stretching his body out, the orange kitten looked around while Zelda looked through whatever she may have, in order to decide what she could make into a decent meal.

Jonesy looked up and noticed the open cupboards. Seeing the ledge, he attempted to hop onto it. The kitten just about made it, but in the process of clambering onto the shelf, he knocked down a bottle from its place.

Noticing the movement in the corner of her eye, Zelda gasped and rushed over, just barely catching the glass bottle before it could crash onto the floor and spill its contents.

"Jones! Be careful!" Zelda said as she got a good hold on the bottle and then placed it safely down onto the counter.

Jonesy meowed at her and reached a paw out in a playful manner. The young woman sighed and chuckled when her little companion lightly patted at her fingers. She took hold of the kitten and took him down from the cupboard.

The kitten purred as his owner used her finger to stroke the side of his neck and under his chin while she cradled him.

Zelda looked over at the bottle that she had saved from devastation. The contents consisted of a sort of red power, and the label in front was written in the language of her home planet; _Goron Spice_.

She had forgotten she had brought a bottle along when she left Hylia; it had been a present to take with her. A simple farewell gift, but she appreciated nonetheless. And now that she thought about it, she was thankful for even more than ever.

"Jonesy…you are brilliant!" Zelda said with a grin, holding her kitten up.

The kitten blinked, not sure about what he did, but his owner seemed to be in high spirits now. With a chuckle, the Hylian kissed his head and put him back down on the floor.

Zelda picked up the bottle of Goron Spice and smiled to herself. It was time she got to cooking something homemade once again.

* * *

Samus swung her arm around, exhaling as she finished off her little exercise. Still clad in armor, she still did not neglect to keep her skills sharp, even while recuperating.

Diesel hovered about in his shop, checking in on the bounty hunter once in a while whenever he had to pass by. He was used to Samus taking refuge in the Junk Quixote, and he did not mind. The hunter never made herself into a nuisance, and Diesel would never admit it out loud, but he considered Samus to be a friend.

"How ya feeling?" The little brown alien asked.

Samus glanced at him, her eyes hidden behind the green T-shaped visor. She clenched her left hand into a fist. "I managed to avoid sustaining any life-threatening injuries this time, and the armor may have gotten the worst of it. But it's repaired itself back to perfect condition now."

Diesel hummed to himself. "Hmm…right. Well, I'm just gonna be in the back room."

The hunter was left to herself and she continued with some exercises to make sure she was still in peak physical condition. She could never allow herself to grow relaxed in one place for too long, even in places she usually visited in order to regain her bearings. Relaxing and lowering her guard was always a beacon for any hostile to have a shot at her.

In the shop, Diesel busied himself with arranging his tools until he heard a familiar voice calling. "Mr. Diesel?" Zelda stepped into the Junk Quixote and looked around.

"Eh? Zelda? It's your day off, kid. No work today; even a workaholic needs a break, y'know. Including me!" Diesel said as he hovered over to his young employee.

Zelda cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, yes sir. I know that. I just wanted to drop by and…" She glanced around. "Is…Samus still here?"

Diesel gave her a look before groaning in realization. "Oh, right. You're visiting her again. Yeah, she's still here. She's in the back, doin' some workout or whatever. So, whatcha got there, kid?"

Zelda glanced at the bag she was carrying. "Oh. Just a little something… I made some for you as well Mr. Diesel, since I miscalculated and made a little too much."

The Hylian placed the bag down and took out a container that Diesel could easily hold with his appendages, and handed it to her boss. A mouth-watering smell rose from the container and Diesel sniffed at it as he held it.

"Well, well! You actually made lunch, instead of having those frozen instant stuff? Hah, ya lookin' for a raise or something?" He grinned, clearly showing he was joking and that he was rather intrigued by the scrumptious scent. "Alright, you. Go ahead; Samus is back there, like I said. Now scram!"

Zelda nodded and picked the bag up again, slinging it over her shoulder, and headed to the back room where the bounty hunter was.

When she got to the huge back room, she immediately found Samus in the middle of an intense workout. However, the hunter was still in armor as she swung her body around, punching and kicking an invisible foe. Her movement was heavy, yet swift for someone that was covered in bulky armor entirely.

For a moment, the Hylian forgot what she was doing there in the first place as she watched every move with intrigue. She had seen a fair amount of warriors and their fighting styles, but Samus seemed to be of the different kind. At least from the ones she was used to seeing.

Samus punched the air with her fist, following with a kick before spinning her body around and punching with her arm cannon. A slight vision in her peripheral vision made her pause, and she whirled around. Her body was tensed her posture exuded caution.

Zelda tensed when that emotionless visor turned to stare right at her, glowing with a bright green light. The hunter looked like she was prepared to pounce at any second.

Upon seeing who it was, Samus relaxed her posture slightly and straightened. It was just Zelda, coming to visit again.

These past few days, the Hylian had been paying many visits to the Junk Quixote and Samus had not minded in the slightest. But it did surprise her that she actually wanted to drop by so often, even when she was an academy student. The hunter had thought she would want to distance herself from something that reminded her of the incidents during her field studies. But apparently, she did not see Samus as a reminder of any bad experiences.

And that was just fine with the bounty hunter. Zelda was rather enjoyable company.

The young woman cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I just came by to see if…you were doing well."

Samus nodded and gave her a reassuring wave of a hand, reassuring the younger blonde that there was nothing to worry about and that all was fine with her. After all, the hunter was in good condition, and her armor had repaired any damages it may have sustained.

"I…brought lunch." Zelda lifted the bag from her shoulder.

Behind the visor, Samus blinked and looked at the young scholar in surprise. She did not have to do that; after all, she had her own fridge and she could have warmed something up for both of them. The hunter then tilted her head at the Hylian.

"I thought I'd actually…make something this time around. As much as I do enjoy the quick meals," Zelda admitted sheepishly as she placed the bag down and took out the casserole.

Samus was taken aback by the fact that Zelda had made an effort to cook something in order to bring it over for the hunter. Needless to say; having someone, even an acquaintance, bringing lunch to her was not something that the hunter ever experienced. Why would the young woman go through such efforts?

"Call it a…late payment for the meals I had to take from your fridge that one time. But I thought it'd be better if it were homemade," Zelda rambled a bit, and her cheeks turned pink when she realized this.

Samus made no indication that she was annoyed, but instead, kept looking at the young scholar. A long silent pause passed between them, and Zelda was beginning to glance elsewhere while Samus did the same; though it was difficult to tell through her opaque visor.

"Well…here. I want you to have this lunch I made, anyway." The Hylian handed the casserole, and a spoon, to Samus and the hunter accepted the container, surprisingly still somehow able to hold onto it when one arm was a cannon.

The hunter looked at the casserole before settling down on the floor and placing the container down in order to reach up and remove her helmet.

Zelda watched the scene before her, seeing such a tall figure sitting down on the floor to eat. She then noticed Samus' features once the helmet was off, and the memory of the bounty hunter removing it to comfort the Hylian with the presence of a human face. It had been such a sudden move, that Zelda hadn't properly registered it though her anxious haze.

But now in a more relaxed setting, she could finally take in the miniscule details she had missed when Samus had revealed her true visage to her. Again, she knew she should not be staring, but it was hard not to.

The hunter's faint scars silently told stories of what she may have gone through, but the Hylia could only speculate based on what she was seeing. She was used to hearing how the fairer sex needed to be and had to be, flawless. But Zelda saw no ugliness in scars or flaws, and Samus' scars told tales of a fighter, even when the hunter herself said not a word.

Finally, Samus tucked into the warm meal. It smelled appetizing, and the taste was…new. It was actually delicious, and had a hint of spice in it that did not burn her mouth, but actually made the meal taste better. She had no idea the young scholar could cook something like this!

The hunter looked up at the young woman and Zelda blushed at the look. "It's meat curry. I had a bottle of spice that I brought from home, so…I thought I might as well make use of it."

Samus felt a little selfish for having to have the whole casserole to herself. She looked at Zelda and tapped her armor hand on the spot beside her on the floor, inviting the young woman to sit with her. Zelda had been the one who cooked it, and it was only right that she had a portion as well.

The Hylian's eyes widened in realization. "It's fine, really! I cooked it for you. And I have more spice left, so I could always make some more."

The hunter shook her head and pat the spot beside her again.

Zelda lowered her head and rubbed her arm. Not wanting to be rude, she stepped over and sat beside Samus. Even while sitting down, the hunter was taller and bigger than her. But it was a comforting presence; perhaps because she was familiar with Samus from before.

Samus tilted her head and used her arm cannon to gently push the casserole towards the young scholar, and handed her the spoon. She gave her current company a look.

"Are you sure? This is supposed to be your meal." Zelda said, reluctantly scooping a bite for herself. She looked at the hunter who merely shook her head.

The Hylian sighed and took a bite. She was glad that she still remembered how to cook the dish; she had not been cooking much for a long while when she started at the academy. And she had been enjoying the easy convenience of the frozen meals in her busy schedule.

She told Samus so and the hunter chuckled, nodding in understanding.

"At least you are capable of cooking," Samus commented, "I cannot achieve even the most basic of breakfasts."

Zelda watched the hunter's expression as she said that; her face, and eyes were solemn and serious. Though the corner of her lips had a barely visible twitch in a very poor attempt to smile at her own joke. The young blonde looked down at her share. "… I may enjoy research, but…I seem be lacking in the basic human functions. People say I speak so eloquently, and yet…I am but a shut-in at times."

"I feel that I should be the one saying that. Except for the eloquent part," Samus said, taking another bite of the meat curry.

"Instead you prefer silence," The young scholar added. "Not that I am bothered by it. Not at all. I just wonder…"

Samus glanced at her. "You wonder why."

Zelda lowered her head. She hoped she did not come across as rude. "Yes…"

The hunter "I don't see any point in speaking to anyone. I do my job, they pay me for it; I'm not hired to have a friendly chat, and even if I had something to say, it's usually not something important and people would refuse to listen anyway. Who needs to listen to the opinions of a bounty hunter…?"

"… I do." Zelda said after a long pause. "I don't mind that you don't like talking out loud, because I am understand you just fine. But if you do decide to speak; I'd love to know about the things you think about at times."

Samus shook her head. "My mind isn't something that's…bright."

"Neither is mine, to tell you the truth. Studies and research is what keeps me on my feet," The young scholar admitted. Though, she did feel quite like a brat for even daring to share such information, as if she were looking for attention. And she hated herself for it.

Samus frowned and looked at her companion. She was still so young; a teenager with so much to live for and just starting out. It still boggled her mind that someone who seemed so bright both in outlook and appearance could say such a thing. But once again, the hunter was reminded of that brief night terror her former charge had.

As far as she could tell, Zelda was just an ordinary youngster with a gift of the mind and brilliant quick wits. Nothing about her indicated any sort of physical trauma that would lead to severe mental damage. Unlike with Samus… The hunter shook her head before she could think too far ahead again.

"Are you alright, Samus?" Zelda asked, looking at the larger woman with concern.

The hunter blinked and snapped out of her daze. She nodded at the young scholar, letting her know all was well, and not to worry.

Zelda sighed and reached into the bag again. "I…have something else." She pulled out a can of soda.

Samus raised an eyebrow as she noticed a little twinkle in the scholar's eyes. She had a feeling there was an ulterior motive that has to do with that can of fizzy drink.

"Since you finally have your helmet off, maybe now you can properly enjoy a nice cold beverage…?" Zelda explained with a bit of a teasing smile.

The hunter just smirked, giving the young blonde a look and accepted the offering of soda. And just as Zelda had thought, Samus did indeed enjoy the cold beverage. And this time, without the little incident of spilling it onto her armor.

"May I ask you a question?" Zelda asked, after a pregnant pause.

Samus glanced at her then nodded. By now she had learned that Zelda's curious nature could not easily be quelled, otherwise it might stay in her mind for a long time until she got it out. Naturally, the hunter learned all this from simply observing.

"How has your investigation been? You never quite told me…"

Of course. Samus still believed she best not get involved, but there was also the fact that she had been there. But it was better she not follow up with Samus' investigation, if she knew too much…

Zelda seemed to read the hunter's distant expression and sighed. "Fine then. I suppose you also do not wish to tell me too much. Malcovich has told me as much when I first returned."

Samus was sure that Zelda was frowning, but her youthful face made it seem as if she were pouting instead; perhaps it was a mixture of both. She almost chuckled, but she knew she had to take the young woman seriously. Someone with an advanced mind like hers would likely prefer it if she were treated like a competent young adult and not as a petulant child.

"I know. It's for my safety and it would be best if I knew less, lest someone somehow decided I may know too much." Zelda said, sounding a little annoyed.

"It's happened before," Samus explained. "I once had to look after someone who had no association with Space Pirates or any other kind of illegal underground activities. Yet they had a target put on their back because they knew too much in passing."

Zelda slumped. "I know. I understand. I'm sorry, I suppose I thought too much of myself that I needed to know the ongoings of such things."

Samus shook her head and pat the young woman's shoulder. "Better this way."

The Hylian nodded. "Of course. Only…" She trailed off.

The hunter raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Only what?

"If you visit once in a while, I'd be most grateful…" Zelda said with a tone of nervousness and embarrassment, as if she was mentally smacking herself for asking such a thing to a bounty hunter of all people. And one who likely has better things to do than to entertain a soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old.

It was rather foreign to the hunter, for someone to want her to visit often. While the hunter had places that she made stops to every once in a while on rare occasions, it was never usually was for social visits. The one she visited more than others was, of course, Diesel. Considering he helped maintain her gunship. Then again, if Zelda worked for Diesel…

"I'll do my best." The hunter said after a while.

Again, that lovely smile appeared upon the scholar's face. "Thank you. I know it's such a petty and trivial thing, but if I'm being honest… I've…come to enjoy your company. A lot. Oh dear, have I said that before, already? I apologize. I'm just rambling."

Samus shook her head, showing her companion that she had no problem with the rambling. She pat the Hylian's shoulder again and smirked a little teasingly. The young blonde was quite endearing, and it was a rare thing for Samus to see.

* * *

Jonesy curled up in his favourite spot. A nice, cozy, snug space for him to have his private naps. His owner was out and about; she would surely be back soon. In the meantime, the orange kitten would be enjoying his nap. It was only after a few minutes that his ears twitched at the sound of the door entering and closing. Had his human returned?

As if to answer the silent question, a loud banging and crashing was heard. Jonesy jumped and his back arched, his fur bristled. The noise was terrible and aggressive. It sounded nothing like what his human would do, even when she seemed to be in a bad state.

The kitten wiggled his head out from his hiding spot and saw, not his human, but strangers, trashing the apartment. The kitten hissed and shrunk back into his hidden spot. Where was his human? Who were these strangers, and why were they trashing their home?

Jonesy's body remained bristled and his tiny claws extended out of his equally tiny paws. Instinct would guide the kitten to attack, and hiss and spit, should he be spotted. But even a daring little furball would be no match for strangers who were clearly twice his size. But where was his human? Did the strangers turn her into prey? But she _always_ came home, no matter how long it took!

Jonesy's body began to tremble as he kept himself alert while he waited for his human to come home…

* * *

"So, where ya off to this time?" Diesel asked, watching as the bounty hunter made some last minute inspections on her gunship.

"Find another lead," Samus said as she walked past the levitating alien. She still had to find the true source before any more abominations were set loose in the black market scene, or worse…

Diesel just grunted, crossing his appendages. "Well good luck to ya. I bet the kid misses you already. For whatever reason…"

Samus glanced at the grouchy alien, narrowing her eyes at him from behind her visor. What was that supposed to mean? She did not find Zelda's company troubling at all; if anything, it was a breath of fresh air. Then again, Diesel was not used to seeing the stoic hunter enjoying chit-chat with anyone. Even if Zelda was the one doing most of the talking while Samus did more of the listening.

"Next time you come around, I hope your ship has _less_ dents!" Diesel said gruffly as he returned to his work.

"Hey! You!" A loud, voice called into the shop.

Both Samus and Diesel looked over at the entrance to see a ragtag group; dressed in some rough-looking armor, and some were less-armored, and their crude weaponry told the duo that the group wasn't there for a pleasant visit.

"Can I help ya?" Diesel asked stiffly as he floated over, eyeing the visitors warily.

"Yeah. We're for Samus." The man in rugged clothing and armor said, leering down at Diesel with a smirk before looking over at Samus.

The unwanted guests then circled the bounty hunter, much to Diesel's dismay; he knew where this was going, and his poor shop was going to suffer the consequences. Again.

Samus stood still, sizing up her opponents silently as they circled her like scavenging predators. They eyed her with a certain intent and it was clear they planned to take her down. Samus had her suspicions but until she had this ragtag team beaten to the ground, her theory would only be mere coincidence.

"There's quite a price on your head, Samus. Dunno what you did to get yourself in a wanted listed, but we ain't complainin'. It's about time someone dropped ya down a peg!" One of the thugs said with a malicious chuckle.

Samus placed her armored hand on her hip while her arm cannon just remained at her side. She was clearly not impressed with their attempts at intimidation. Meanwhile, Diesel had been gathering some materials and storing them out back before any scuffles began. He was not going to risk losing some of his best money-makers.

"What's the matter, Samus? Shaking in your boots? You _should_ be!"

Samus just stared at each of them. They were not worth her time, or voice. Instead she merely showed signs of boredom and impatience. And they seemed to, at least, understand that kind of body language.

One of the thugs grit his teeth and glared at the bounty hunter angrily. "Who d'ya think you are?! Huh?! Think you're such a bigshot? We'll see who'll be laughing once we rip your head off your shoulders!"

The group then got into a fighting stance, still surrounding Samus, who remained emotionless and calm as usual. These people were nothing but amateurs, and she intended to beat the information out of them if she had to. No doubt they would not go down any other way.

Sensing movement behind her, Samus turned around and leaned her body back, avoiding the hit and grabbing the thug's arm, yanking him forward and putting him off balance. She slammed her arm cannon down onto his back and he was easily taken out.

"Damn it! Get him! Get him!" Another thug said and the whole gang pounced.

Samus moved swiftly and weaved around them with ease, despite how heavy she looked, in full armor.

The armored thug raised a fist, intending on smashing Samus into the ground. She leapt forward, instantly transitioning into her Morph Ball form and rolling between her opponent's legs and rolling back to her full height.

"Shit…!" The thug whirled around, only to be met with the arm cannon punching his face and then sending him flying into a wall with a small blast.

Diesel settled in the distance, watching in utter horror as his shop suffered the damages of having Samus brawl the ragtag group of thugs. It would take him days to even fix everything up; that is if his poor shop survived the onslaught. This would not be the first time such a thing has happened, where Samus had to battle unwanted intruders inside the Junk Quixote, but it still gave the old grumpy alien a heart attack whenever it did.

One by one, the cocky thugs fell to the floor, with Samus the only one left standing.

"Gah! Again! My poor shop!" Diesel screamed in the back.

The hunter ignored him, already very used to his outbursts over his works, machinery, and shop. He would get over it in a day or two. He always did, and he always got back on his figurative feet.

"Just who did these punks think they were anyway? Barging in like that and ruining my shop!" The hovering alien exclaimed, waving the nub of his appendage like a threatening fist. "And don't think you're in the clear, Samus! You had a hand in messing this place up too!"

Samus busied herself with checking the unconscious thugs for any clues as to why they just barged in to attack her. They had mentioned that she was on somebody's hit-list and so they must have been sent by that somebody. The question was; who?

As she rummaged around, she found a small recording device inside the ringleader's pockets and pulled it out. She pressed the play button and listened in closely. The sounds were rather distorted but several obvious words could still be made out clearly.

" _Payment as agreed… Bounty hunter… Aran…hunt her down… No witnesses… Loose ends…"_

Once the recording ended, Samus frowned. The voice was too distorted to make out and her analysis would likely come up empty. Whoever it was, they knew how to cover their tracks, and they were aware that Samus was nipping at their heels. It would be only natural for them to want to make sure they left no loose ends. Loose ends…

The bounty hunter suddenly tensed. There was only one other person who had witnessed the illegal activities.

" _Zelda!"_ Samus immediately sprinted to her gunship, ignoring Diesel's irritated and loud yelling after her for fighting in his shop and causing hundreds of credits worth of damage. But now was not the time to get side-tracked; she needed to find Zelda fast, before anybody else did.

She started up her ship, not caring if she ended up scratching the new paint job or creating a new dent while she hastily got it to move out of the Junk Quixote. An innocent life was in danger, and she was not going to allow it to be snuffed out.

Once she had left the space station, she set a course for Daiban.

* * *

Zelda sighed as she ran her fingers down her long blonde hair idly. Perhaps she needed a bit of a trim. She shook her head from these trivial thoughts and continued on her walk home. She needed to feed Jonesy and prepare for tomorrow's class.

As she made her way down the streets, heading towards her apartment, she could not help but feel as if somebody was leering at her. It caused a shiver to run down her spine. Zelda whirled around and frowned. There did not seem to be anyone there, and all she could see were other people making their own way down the streets, to their own destinations.

Perhaps she was just feeling tired and stressed. Not that she any reason to be that stressed. Shrugging it off, she turned to head home.

Even as she made it closer to her apartment, she stopped. That feeling of being leered at did not leave. And now it felt even worse than before. However, this time she could hear footsteps behind her. Mentally, she reasoned with herself that it could just be people going in the same direction that she was. But her ears twitched at how their footsteps sounded; it was as if they were trying not to make it obvious that they were following someone, each step was as quiet as possible, but her Hylian ears easily caught the sound of them.

Deciding to test her theory, Zelda stopped, and the footsteps stopped. She then bent down, acting as if there were a problem with her shoes. She made sure to grumble and act as if she had not noticed that she was being followed. As expected, whoever was behind her did not move around her and merely waited until she started moving again.

She had to think fast; she might end up mugged or worse.

Zelda glanced around while still making sure to fiddle her hands around to make it seem like she was actually working on her shoes. She was just a few distance from her apartment. If she could move quickly, when her stalkers least expected it, she could get in before they could chase her inside. It was a risk but she had to take it.

Finally. Zelda acted like she was done with her shoes, and took off sprinting. She rushed for her apartment building and the people behind her gave chase.

She made it to the building but was prevented from entering when someone stepped out of the corner and blocked her escape route. Zelda skidded to a stop, now feeling trapped as she was surrounded by a gang of ruffians.

"Gentlemen… Anything I can help you with?" She asked as calmly as she could despite the fact that she felt more than anxious and scared that she might be attacked right here on the streets, right in front of her apartment building.

The man blocking her way to the door stepped forward, and she took a step back.

"Yeah, you can help, actually. You see…our boss doesn't like nosey kids playing around with things they shouldn't be playing with." The thug said, his stature intimidating the young Hylian.

Zelda slowly and discreetly moved her hand to her side, to where the Sheikah Slate hung at all times. She needed to get away, and quick.

"Really now? I don't believe I met this boss of yours. I'm afraid I'm merely a student trying to get by…" Zelda tried to tap at the Sheikah Slate's screen.

One of the thugs noticed and grabbed her wrist. "Well now, what do we have here? That's a nice toy you got there, girly."

Zelda tensed up and instinctively moved; she lifted her leg and kicked the man in the groin, with the expected results. She snatched her hand away and moved off some distance as they began to retaliate. She quickly tapped on the screen of the slate, and a glowing blue orb materialized in her arms in an instant.

"Stay back!" She warned, showing them the bomb she now held. In her other hand, she held the Sheikah Slate, her thumb positioned to detonate at a moment's notice.

The thugs scoffed at her and continued to approach.

Zelda lifted the Sheikah Slate. "Do you want to risk an explosion? I can easily detonate this bomb." She was being bold and that was a risk. But she had to show them that she was not willing to back down.

The thugs paused and stared at the glowing blue bomb. It was nothing like they had ever seen before, but something told them that the girl was being serious, and they were unsure of the bomb's blast radius. She risked blowing herself up as well, but then again, she could also toss the bomb.

Each of them exchanged a look. The solution was simple; they had to get the bomb and detonator away from the girl. It should be easy enough.

Zelda shuddered. She could sense they were up to something and she may not be able to do anything else if they decided to attack. She could throw the bomb and detonate it, and call out another. But she was unsure how long she could keep up her defences.

She took one step back and, in a flash, two of the men pounced. They rushed at her, and before Zelda could throw the bomb at them, it was kicked out from her arm, and her Sheikah Slate was snatched away in the same instant. Another thug then rushed at her and shoved her onto the ground, face-first. She struggled but her captor's hold on her was rough and heavy-handed. She would not be able to escape now.

"Should've gone quietly, kid. Now you've lost your toy." The thug mocked, bouncing the bomb around with his knee, like a ball.

The thug with the Sheikah Slate smirked as he looked at it. "Now this might fetch a pretty penny. Or maybe I'll keep it, once I learn how this hunk of junk works."

Zelda shifted a bit and managed to left her head off the ground a bit. "Nayru! Deploy security measures!"

The Sheikah Slate began beeping before letting out a much deeper and louder beep upon sensing the hand that was holding it was not that of Zelda's but an intruder. In retaliation, the slate began to vibrate slightly and the thug felt a shock run through his system, as if he had been shot with a stun gun or taser.

As a result of the slate acting out, the bomb suddenly exploded, catching the thugs off guard. It sent them flying and crashing into walls and each other as they were hit hard by the unexpected explosion. Including the thug holding Zelda down, and even Zelda herself.

She groaned painfully before forcing herself to her feet and rushing forward to take her Sheikah Slate back, just as her pursuers got back up onto their feet.

Enraged by the fact they had been caught off-guard by a teenager, the thugs drew out their weaponry and kept it trained on Zelda, also making sure not to allow her anywhere near any routes of escape.

The young scholar could feel herself shaking; her fingers were at the Sheikah Slate's screen but they trembled badly, unable to do anything. She needed to do something, do _anything_ in order to survive this encounter. If not, then who knows what would happen to her.

"You're dead, you little bitch!" The lead thug pointed his blaster at her and his finger pressed on the trigger.

Zelda reacted, and dove to the side, hopefully getting out of the way and hitting the pavement as she did so. But rather than feeling pain or hearing the shot being fired, instead, she heard screams behind her. Opening her eyes, she blinked in confusion before looking over.

The thug found himself shot by a blast that incapacitated him, before his comrades were also either shot down or incapacitated physically by a punch and kick.

Samus Aran's signature armor glowed with a green light that lined the armor, along with the visor. The deadly arm cannon made contact with several faces before swinging around to fire a deadly blast.

The hunter had rushed all the way to Daiban, but unsure where Zelda could possibly be staying. But a look through her datalog reminded her that she had exchanged information with Zelda. She did not really have much aside from the basics, but it at least led her in the right direction. And it was a good thing it did.

Samus had easily heard a commotion as she ran around almost aimlessly, and there she had found a bunch of armed men surrounding Zelda. She had been close to jumping in immediately until she saw Zelda bring out a bomb, only to be easily restrained, but then turned things around by having her device activate a sort of security alert and exploding the blue bomb in the process.

Her quick thinking once again surprised Samus but she did not have time to linger on it. She finally charged in when the young scholar became surrounded again, but was unable to move due to the fear. She was just a civilian after all.

Samus took care of the immediate threat with ease, leaving unconscious and burned up thugs along the sidewalk. She turned to Zelda and rushed to her side, getting onto one knee and activating her scan visor. So far it seemed that the Hylian had no apparent injuries aside from a bruise or two from being roughed up.

"Samus?" Zelda looked up at the armored hunter with a shocked expression. "W-what's happening?"

The hunter shook her head and helped the Hylian back onto her feet. Samus looked down at Zelda and placed a hand to her red chest piece, hoping Zelda could still understand what she was trying to convey to her. She had just managed to get to her in time to prevent an assassination, but now, Zelda would no longer be safe in her own home, or even in Daiban in general.

"… Those men. Did you know them?" Zelda asked, her body becoming tensed.

Samus shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. She then pointed at herself.

It took a while for Zelda's still panic-filled mind to puzzle together what the silent bounty hunter was trying to say without the use of words. Or any known form of sign language. She watched the motions carefully, even though she was still feeling shaken up. She had been close to perhaps being beaten to death by an entire group, but Samus was here, and she was trying to tell her something.

"You…did they attack you as well? …Another group attacked you?"

Samus nodded in response.

"Were you with Mr. Diesel?" Zelda asked.

Again, the hunter nodded.

Zelda stepped closer to Samus and ran her hands along the armor. "Are you okay? A-are you hurt?" She looked up at the tall woman worriedly.

Behind her visor, Samus' eyes widened at the unexpected concern. Zelda had nearly been killed, yet she was asking Samus if she was alright! How could she do that? Be concerned about someone else's wellbeing rather than her own, especially right after being close to death?

Samus shook her head and attempted to hold onto Zelda's shoulders urgently, even though one arm was still a cannon. But the Hylian did not seem bothered by the fact that one of her shoulders had a cannon's barrel was resting on it. Samus made a mental note of this as well but pushed the trivial thought aside. She needed to get Zelda somewhere safe before more another hitman or two were sent after her.

"This…has to do with the Space Pirates you've been chasing. Isn't it?" Zelda looked straight at the bounty hunter's glowing visor.

Samus only nodded; there was no way around it. And there was no point to lying or trying to sugar-coat the facts for Zelda. She needed to know the truth, and her life depended on it. Just then, Zelda's eyes widened in realization. If Samus had been attacked, and was here just as Zelda herself had been ambushed…

"No… Jones!" Zelda cried as she rushed up into the apartment building before Samus could stop her.

The bounty hunter ran after her charge, her arm cannon at the ready in case there were more attackers waiting for them. Still, she tried to stop Zelda from rushing up into her apartment, but the young woman seemed determined to get inside.

Zelda hastily went to unlock the door to her apartment, only to realize that the door was not entire closed. Someone had broken in! Without wasting any more time, she burst right in. She gasped at the state of her apartment; everything was ruined. Items were tossed around and were either destroyed or ruined beyond any hope of fixing.

"Jones!" Zelda called and looked around, just as Samus cautiously stepped into the apartment.

The bounty hunter activated her scan visor, searching for any signs of life, for any intruders who may be hiding and waiting. When she picked up nothing, she allowed herself to calm down slightly. It was still dangerous to linger around any longer than they already were. But Zelda kept calling for someone named Jones. Her roommate? Had he been caught in the middle as collateral damage just because Zelda had not been at home?

"Jones! Jones!" Zelda called out as she ran to her bedroom.

Samus continued to wander and inspect the trashed apartment. If it weren't from the ruined and broken furniture, the hunter was sure that it had been a rather decent living space for a student who was studying at the academy. Suddenly sensing that she was being watched, Samus whirled around, her visor glowing brightly as she pointed her arm cannon at the perpetrator who stood behind her, only to freeze in place.

A little orange kitten sat on the kitchen counter, staring into the hunter's glowing visor. It sniffed the barrel of the arm cannon before fearlessly licking it in greeting. Samus relaxed slightly and lowered her weapon.

"Jonesy!" Zelda cried, upon seeing the kitten. She ran to the little thing and picked him up gently. "There you are! I was so worried!"

The hunter stared at the scene. So Jones was not a roommate, but Zelda's pet kitten. It eased Samus' mind to know that no human life had been taken, and seeing as that the kitten was so small, it was likely he managed to hide away when the intruders broke in. However, that meant Zelda had been living alone with only a kitten for company. Samus would have thought the young scholar would at least have one friend she would be staying with.

Samus made her way into the bedroom to see it was just as trashed. But there were some items that would be of use; there were clothes that did not seem damaged and since Zelda won't be able to safely stay in her own apartment now…

As Zelda pet Jonesy's fur gently, as a way to comfort herself mostly, she began to hear a ruckus going on in her bedroom. Puzzled, she looked over to see a flash of yellow-orange of Samus' armor. When the young scholar stepped inside her room, she stared in puzzlement as Samus grabbed a large duffle back she found lying amongst the messy chaos, and began throwing clothing into it.

Samus paused and looked over at Zelda, pointing at the hastily-packed duffle bag.

Realization snapped inside of Zelda's head. "What? But…just _leave_? I still have a job at Junk Quixote! The academy…!" She tried to protest.

Samus shook her head. Now was not the time to be concerned over such things; her place in the academy and her job was a trivial matter in comparison to the fact that her life was now in danger just because she had been with the bounty hunter during the incidents with lynels. Samus picked up the bag and dangled it in front of Zelda, giving her a choice.

Zelda held Jonesy closer to her chest, suddenly feeling like she had gone numb, but the presence of the kitten was the only thing that kept her grounded. With a shaky hand, she reached for the strap and took the bag. She peered inside and sighed; she would need to properly pack what was left of her belongings that was of use to her.

Seeing that she wanted to pack herself now, Samus stepped back out into the living room.

Jonesy watched as his owner put other articles of clothing into the bag and tilted his head. When Zelda turned away to search for something stored in her bedroom, the kitten peeked inside the bag and, seeing the piles of clothes inside, stepped into it and curled up.

"Oh Jones… We really need to get going. Where…? I don't know…" Zelda sighed. Her life was falling apart before her very eyes and she had no idea what to do. Except follow the bounty hunter, Samus Aran.

Once she had packed, she found Samus standing by the front door, waiting for her. The hunter looked at the young scholar through her glowing visor; no words were said. There was nothing that could be said at that moment.

They were now officially the hunted.

* * *

 **Sorry this took too long. The chapter had already been partway done, and I just never got to writing the last few paragraphs; I've been busy with another fic and I've been going through some things.**

 **Still, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, despite how long it took for me to get off my butt and write a few more lines, and then uploading it.**

 **Until then…**


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